Straw and Fluff
by lovisa.johansson.963
Summary: Monkey D. Luffy one day saves a strange mushroom-hatted boy from drowning in the ocean. This boy is called Trafalgar Law. Three years later, the two of them set out to the sea to become pirates, with Luffy as the captain and Law as the doctor. A random story I'm writing for fun cuz I'm loving the latest chapters where Law's with the Straw-Hats. Warnings inside. Review please!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: WARNING: May contain OOCness and does have a few enemy-OCs, plus no pairings, only nakamaship 'cause let's be honest, nothing beats nakamaships. Also, there will be japanese stuff like "san" and "nakama", 'cause there is no english word that can describe nakama, and I can't imagine characters like Coby talking without adding "san" at the end at people's names... and I'd start laughing if I wrote "Mister Luffy" XD. My excuse for OOCness on Law's behalf is that in this story, he spends over three years with Luffy. Three. Years. With Luffy. That will change you, no matter how you try to deny it. The excuse for the few OCs who are enemies, well, Law would be the second strongest one in the Straw-Hat crew if he was in it, and it'd be an insult his power if I let him take on small fry, so first I thought about letting him take care of Sanji and Zoro's enemies at first to avoid OCs, but that'd be an insult to their power. Don't worry, the ones I'll use won't be love interests, just enemies, but they won't be completely dislikable either, I hope. The ones I'll use are the ones that I've taken a heck of a lot of time writing, so I hope you won't mind owo Also Law is nineteen here. I wanted to make him younger so the prologue and his connection with Luffy would make a tad more sense... or whatever. Anyways, here we go!**

Prologue

_In East Blue, three years prior to the One Piece timeline..._

A young boy with raven hair practiced his punch at some rocks in the forest. He was really getting the hang of his rubber powers and he couldn't wait for his seventeenth birthday to come so he could get out on the seas to show them to Ace.

Ace.

The boy sighed. It had been four months since his brother left, and yet already it felt like an eternity. Mostly because the only ones he could talk to now were the bandits and, once in a while, Makino. As much as he'd like to deny it, he felt... sort of... lonely.

In that moment, he heard a sudden gurgling sound from the sea. 'Odd', the boy thought. 'It sounds as if somone's...'

"AAAAGHHHHHH I'M DROWNING!"

'... what he said. Wait, what? Oh no!'

"Don't worry! I'll save you!" the boy shouted as he ran to the edge of the forest where he could see the blue sea of East Blue. He could spot a fluffy, white mushroom hat floating on the waves beside a pair of desperately flailing hands. The boy merely managed to stop himself from jumping in, remembering that he couldn't swim, and stretched out an arm of elasticness to the hands instead. Unfortunately, as the arm retreated in its elastic glory, it managed to slam the body of the drowner into the arm's owner's face.

If the boy wasn't made of rubber, his face'd hurt so much.

i...i

The drowner panted heavily. "Thanks... for saving me..."

"You're welcome", the boy replied, panting as well after what seemed like hours of pumping out all the unwanted water from the drowner. "More importantly, what the hell were you doing at sea if you can't swim?"

"My ship sunk."

"Oh. What's your name?"

"What does it matter?"

"I saved your life so I'd at least want to know your name, you know."

"... Trafalgar Law. You?"

"Me?" The boy proudly put his hand on the straw hat on top of his tousled black hair and grinned widely. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy, the man who's going to become the Pirate King!"

"..."

"What? You don't believe me?"

"... You're hardly a man."

"Shut up! You're hardly a man either! What kind of way is that to talk to someone who just saved your life?!"

"More like a boy... you're, what, ten? Nine?"

"I'm fourteen. Wait! Listen to me, damn it!"

Chapter 1  
~The Surgeon and The Monkey~

Law whistled, impressed, as Luffy's fist knocked out the infamous Lord of the Coast, the Sea King just outside Foosha Village.

"Well what d'ya know, you actually beat it", he said, leaning on the railing of the boat casually.

"Of course! I didn't train ten years for nothing!" Luffy grinned.

"Right, now sit down before the boat tips over", his mushroom-hatted companion warned. "We don't want our careers as pirates to end as quickly as it started."

He did as he was told and sat down, a frown taking place on his face. "Right, right. But you know, Law, I just have to ask you something..."

Said man opened one of his closed gray eyes. "What?"

"I'm the captain, right?"

A sigh. "Fine, fine. I'm gonna be more captain-like than you anyways. Just don't try to order me around."

A moment of confused silence. "... That means I'm the captain, right?"

"Yes, Luffy, yes it does." Law took a second to admire his own sanity and patience for still being whole after three years with that idiot.

i...i

Coby's eyes were about to pop out of his head as one of the barrels got smashed from the inside and a seventeen year old boy wearing a red vest and light blue, short trousers jumped out.

"WHAT A GREAT NAP!" the boy shouted, accidentally knocking out one of Alvida's pirates.

In the next moment, the lid to the bigger barrel opened and a man who looked to be around nineteen years old poked out his frowning face. "Oi, oi, Luffy! Don't act like nothing happened."

Coby took a moment to inspect the two with his eyes. They both were lightly tanned with black hair, but the man had a tad shorter and a tad tidier hair, fine sideburns, a hint of a goatee on his chin, faint shadows under his gray eyes and was slim and tall with a black-sleeved yellow hoodie covering his torso and a pair of jeans with odd dark markings similiar to the ones on his fluffy hat but darker. The boy was much shorter and seemed sort of, uh, "brighter" than the man in the barrel beside him, in spite of the scar with the two stitches under his left eye.

Nonetheless, Coby feared currently for both their lives and his own.

Looking slightly embarrassed, the mushroom-hatted man climbed out of the barrel and kicked it away nonchalantly, focusing his silver gaze at the red-vested boy. "We could've died because of your incompetence. Couldn't you have at least tried to avoid that whirlpool?"

The boy, apparantly named Luffy, turned to the man. "If it was so important, why didn't you try to avoid it, Traffy?"

That seemed to hit the spot. "Traffy" flinched and made an embarrassed grimace. "Well... at least I prepared two barrels for this kind of situation. So in a way I saved both of our lives. And how many times do I have to tell you not to call me Traffy! Just call me Law."

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TWO?!" the pirates from Alvida's crew, the two who were still conscious (Coby honestly did not know nor cared about their names), exclaimed.

Luffy turned to them, blinking innocently while Law glanced at them, showing no interest at all in them.

"Who the hell are you guys?" the straw-hatted teen queried in return. Law shrugged. "Don't know, don't care. However, this is a ship, so there should be boats-"

"Take us seriously!" the two pirates screamed angrily as they leapt at the other two with their swords drawn. Coby slammed his hands over his eyes and closed them.

There was a sound of metal splitting and a pair of astonished gasps. Slowly and cautiously, Coby lifted his hands away from his face and opened his eyes. Luffy and Law were both still fine, but the same couldn't be said about the pirates' swords. Both of the blades were split in two - Luffy seemed to have somehow broken one of them with his bare hands while Law had cut the other one with the nodachi* he had in his right hand.

The pirates stared at the strange duo, their jaws almost touching the floor. "You two... who the hell are you? What are you?!" they managed to press out.

"Hm? Me?" straw-hat asked. A grin spread across his face and he crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy. Nice to meet you!" He pointed at his mushroom-hatted companion. "And this is Tra-Trafalgy-Traffyguy-Tralalagarla- geh, Trafalgar Law, my first mate and doctor!"

Law rolled his eyes with a smirk. "You actually got my name right. That's a miracle. But I'm capable of introducing myself, you know."

"I finally get your stupidly hard-to-pronounce name right and all you do is complain. You're the worst, Law", Luffy pouted. Before Law could reply, the pirates gave a yell, grabbed the unconscious one and ran away as fast as they could. The duo stared after them with frowns of confusion.

"How disappointing. I was hoping to take that unconscious one's organs", said the doctor. The to-be-Pirate King and the pink-haired boy shuddered in disgust. "Please don't", they said simultaneously. The prior quickly recovered from the disgust though and turned to the latter who still was disgusted by the thought. "Anyhow, do you know where I can find some food? I'm starving!"

"That's the least of your troubles right now!" the pink-haired latter, now with eyes widened in shock, blurted out. "There's a lot more of them on deck and they're ready to kill anybody!" Unfortunately, his blurt-out was futile as the hungry prior's nose twitched as he sniffed the air for food.

"Hooray, there is food here! Come on Law!" he cheered in triumph, running off towards the cellar of the ship where the food was indeed held. Coby tried to hold him back and shouted for Law to help, but the doctor just shook his head. "Don't try to stop him when it's about food. He'd kick a whole crew of pirates' asses just to get a good chunk of meat", he said and followed Luffy into the cellar.

Once Coby stepped inside, he was greeted by an obnoxious noise of someone eating loudly and someone scolding the other for staining food on their pants.

After some seconds of preparing himself, Coby began to hesitatingly introduce himself to the strange duo. "Err... Hi, I'm Coby. You're Luffy and Law, right? What were you doing in a couple of barrels?"

"Our ship was dragged into a whirlpool, so we climbed into the barrels and hoped that we would survive", Law explained curtly, fixing his gaze on the apple in his hand. He took a bite from it before continuing to speak. "By the way, is this your ship or the ship of those three guys from before?"

"No, this ship is currently being attacked by Alvida's pirates. It's just a random passenger ship, really... wait... did you say whirlpool?!" the tiny boy with pink hair who looked like he was six years old although he was probably around Luffy's age. The duo nodded, chewing on their respective pieces of food. "Yep. It's all his fault. ... Hey!" They glared at each other for a while, but then shrugged and proceeded to eat.

"Anyways, are there any boats here?" the straw-hat wearing captain queried.

"There should be. This is a passenger ship, after all."

"Great! 'Cause, like we said, ours got dragged into a whirlpool and it's not in particular useful anymore", grinned Luffy.

Law rolled his eyes once again before fixing them on Coby. "Speaking of which, about the thing about this passenger ship being attacked by pirates, well, what are you? Are you a pirate as well or are you a passenger?"

The smile on Coby's lips vanished in a second at Law's question. He looked down at his hands, a sorrowful glint in his eyes. "About that... One... One day, or, That Day, I went aboard, with the intent to go fishing..." Law and Luffy leaned forward slightly in their sitting positions, intrigued by the hint that the story might be a good one because of seriousness in Coby's voice. "... But alas, the boat I was boarding was actually going-" a small pause for him to swallow "-to a pirate ship! For the past two years, I've been working like a slave so they wouldn't kill me, but... now, my dream is crushed, and I don't even hope for a rescue anymore..."

Two pairs of eyes stared at the pink-haired boy - one pair of black, one pair of gray. And then came the laughter. The loud laughter of the owner of the black eyes and the chuckles of the owner of the gray eyes.  
"You're really stupid and useless, aren't you!" the black-eyed one cackled.  
"You had me going there for a while", the gray-eyed one said between his muffled laughter. "You're making that human condom joke look smart!"  
"Don't say that, please... also, human condom joke? What? I don't even..." Coby muttered sadly.  
"You're sort of wimpy too. I don't like you!" owner-of-the-black-eyes said, grinning brightly, apparently not caring about being called a "human condom joke" or simply not getting it.

Coby barely managed to keep the tears inside, but an incredibly depressed expression lay upon his face. "Y-Yeah... you're right... if only I was brave enough... Wait, Luffy-san, Law-san, why are you sailing? Are you out fishing, too?" The last part was added with a bitterly humorous tone.

The grin which was now on Luffy's face was so wide that it looked like it hurt. "We're pirates. We're going to the Grand Line and I will become the Pirate King!"

Now Coby's jaw really was hitting the floor. His gaze turned to Law, hoping for him to say that the straw-hat wearing boy wasn't serious since he was the more serious one of them, but he was still leaning back casually with a confident smirk. When he noticed Coby staring at him, he gave a brief nod to confirm that they were indeed serious about that preposterous idea.  
"Th-That's impossible!" he burst out. "There's no way that you could become King of Pirates! All the pirates of the world are out to become the exact same thing! You're talking about getting wealth, fame and power! What you're saying is that you're going to get the One Piece!"

Luffy smiled and Law let out an exasperated sigh. "Sounds about right. Your point?"

Coby winced. "You're going to die, you know... If you go out there, to the Grand Line, you'll die! There's so many pirates, so much stronger than you! They're ruthless and will kill you at si- oww!" A firm fist was slammed onto Coby's head. "W-Why did you hit me, Luffy-san...?" The response was as firm as the fist.

"'Cause I couldn't stand you!"

"Ah well, I'm used to being hit anyways. My shipmates bash me on the head all the time", Coby said pitifully.

Luffy took his hat off and smiled affectionately at it, ignoring Coby's wailing. "I'm not afraid of dying! Because it's my dream, it's what I want, so I'm ready to die for it!"

"W... won't mind dying for it...?" Coby stuttered, staring at him and then Law. "What about you, Law-san?"

"The title of Pirate King does not interest me, other than the fact of being on the top of the world", said man replied bluntly. "However, I stand by the same resolve as him. In fact -" he bared his teeth slightly in a grin "- I think I'm looking forward to being on the verge of death. A good doctor should at least know what their patients feel like when their lives lie on the line between life and death."

For some reason, he really gave Coby the creeps.

"Ano... Luffy-san... do you... do you think I could accomplish my dream too?" asked the boy with the glasses and the pink hair instead of declaring Law's creepiness out loud.

"What dream?"

"My dream... to... to become a marine! Since I was a kid (at this, Law arched an eyebrow in disbelief and muttered "you look like you're six"), I've always wanted to fight bad guys! Luffy-san, Law-san, I know that it would mean we would be enemies, but it has always been my dream! Do you think I could do it?"

"I wouldn't know!"  
"If they take in people who look like they're six and acts like a sad puppy, perhaps..."

"I-I have to at least try! I'd rather die than stay here much longer! I'll leave, become a marine and capture Alvida!" The shy glasses-wearing boy flinched as he realized what he'd said. "Y-Yeah... I'll leave... and I'll capture Alvida!" he declared, loudly and more determined than he'd ever been in his entire life.

Suddenly, the ceiling crashed down, merely missing the two pirates and the marine-to-be.

"Who is it you're going to capture, Coby?!" shouted a female voice. The odd trio looked up to see an extremely fat, freckled woman at the top of the ceiling, glaring down at them. Coby shivered in fear at the sight of the woman who was currently his mistress. The woman, Alvida"-sama" caught sight of the two pirates and smirked. "The straw-hat isn't Zoro, at least... but what about you, fluffy hat?"

"It can't be him. Pirate Hunter Zoro is said to use three swords, not one", one of her underlings commented.

"Right, whatever. However, Coby, I must ask you something", she seethed. "Who is the most beautiful beautiful woman of all the seas?!"

"O-Oh... well... that is of course-" said boy began, but a certain doctor and straw-hatted captain interrupted him.

"I'm not an expert when it comes to the beauty of women, but I'll say Boa Hancock 'cause I read it in some book", the doctor said, as blunt as ever.

"Coby, who's this ugly hag?" the straw-hatted captain asked, as oblivious as ever.

Alvida, Coby and the rest of her crew all gaped at the duo. For a while, the place was incredibly silent. That is, until Alvida grinded her teeth and smashed her giant mace into the floor. "YOU LITTLE BRATS!" she screamed in the process.

The duo jumped out of the way, grabbing Coby with them. In the same instant as their feet touched the deck of the ship, the pirates of Alvida's crew charged at them. It appeared to be a mistake for them pirates, because Law raised his hands and uttered the word "Room". A blue orb appeared around them and they stopped dead in their tracks, wondering what was going on. While they were at it, Law drew his nodachi and cut through the air multiple times. Through some sort of strange magic or something, all the pirates were cut into pieces. Even stranger than that, the pirate doctor moved around his hands as he said "Shambles!" and the cut-up pirates were put their limbs, torsos and heads on each other's cut-up bodies.

The image which was created was more than just bizarre. Torsos were on top of other torsos. Legs for arms. Heads on nothing but feet. Arms for legs.

And just because this was apparently an experiment on just how bizarre things can get, the doctor's captain's arm stretched as he punched all the now-misshapened members of Alvida's crew. Speaking of Alvida, she and Coby were so weirded out that they were probably about to faint from the extremely bizarre scene in front of them. (Did I mention that the scene was bizarre? I mean seriously. Whatever Oda was on when he came up with these powers, I want it!)

"Luffy-san... Law-san... what are you?!" Coby gasped.

"He's a rubber boy, hence why he's a 'human condom joke' as I mentioned earlier, and I'm an operation man", the doctor explained, his shoulders slouching as he rested his nodachi on the left one. Luffy laughed while stretching out his cheeks. "No matter how many times I hear it, it still sounds so stupid, Law!" he giggled. Said man gritted his teeth in irritation. "Well, you're no better."

As Coby proceeded to gloat in disbelief, his captain stepped forward, causing the deck to shake a bit and he ran off to hide behind Luffy in fear ('cause he'd only be even more scared if he hid behind the strange doctor). The she-pirate glared at the two. "So, you ate the legendary Devil's Fruits, did you?"

"Yup, the Gomu Gomu No Mi and the Ope Ope No Mi ones", the red-vested pirate confirmed.

"Ah. I've heard rumors of them, but I never thought they'd actually exist. For such young men you sure are skilled. Tell me, are you marines or bounty hunters?" the fat lady questioned.

"We're pirates", the two replied at the same time.

"Pirates? With only the two of you? Ha! You won't last long", she taunted.

"Do you take a seed and expect it to be a tree the minute your plant it?" Law retorted calmly, still smirking. "Just because it's currently a small crew doesn't mean it won't get bigger."

Alvida was a bit appalled at his calm demeanor, but quickly smirked back. "Oh, metaphors. I see you're going to be a great pirate, 'cause what great pirate doesn't use pretty talk? Anyhow, since we're both pirates and you're not under my flag, that means we're enemies, right?"

Coby gulped nervously and glanced at the two pirates. "Luffy-san... Law-san... Run, this person is the number one..." Because it's my dream, it's what I want, so I'm ready to die for it!

"Well, Coby? What do you have to say about this?" Alvida queried smugly.

The boy gritted his teeth, shaking in fear of what might come, but determined to do what he was about to do no matter what. "THE NUMBER ONE STINKING OLD FAT HAG!"

Insert "Dan dan DAAAAN!" here.

It was so silent that the only sound they heard was the sound of waves lapping at the ships, an amused "heh" from a half-insane operation man and a rubber idiot's laughter.

Then, of course, the silence was broken by an angry fat hag-lady who screamed "COBYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY I'LL KILL YOUUUUUUUUUUUUU" and the rubber idiot who said "Well said!" to the wimpy, pink-haired to-be-marine and pushed himself in front of that to-be-marine. The ugly fat hag raised her mace high up in the air and then let it crash down on the rubber idiot's head. A surprised gasp escaped the to-be-marine. "Luffy-san!"

"Heh... that won't work on me!" declared the rubber idiot confidently. He swung his arm back, preparing to strike. "Law! Can you cut her into pieces and make her look even uglier before I punch her?" he added over his shoulder.

"No."

"So blunt! At least give it some thought!"

"Hmm... No."

"Aww... oh well. Gomu Gomu No... Pistol!" Luffy's fist came back and punched Alvida hard in the face, sending her flying across the vast ocean. Meanwhile, Law turned to the remaining crew. "Oi." They winced in fear. "We'll be needing a boat. You'll give it to us..." He pushed up his sword from the sheath slightly, revealing its shiny metallic surface only a bit, but enough for the crew to look all the more alarmed. "... won't you?"

"Ah! Y-Yes, of course, Operation Man-san!" they assured, running off to fix them a boat. Law smiled lop-sidedly and turned to the astonished Coby. "You're coming with us, right? So you can become a marine or whatever." Coby nodded. "Good. Luffy! They've got the boat ready." He glanced towards the horizon. "And marines are coming, so we better go."

i...i

Law, Luffy and Coby were now sailing peacefully on the ocean, far away from both marines and pirates. Law was resting his elbows and back on the railing of the boat, looking up at the sky quietly with his trademark smirk on as always. Luffy was sitting on the fore of the boat, staring aimlessly at the horizon before them. Coby was steering the boat, glad to be out of all the bizarreness which had just happened.

"They mentioned a Zoro-guy earlier... who's that?" asked Luffy suddenly.

Law looked away from the sky. "If I remember correctly, I think I've heard someone say he's an infamous bounty hunter..."

Coby nodded. "That's right. They say he's a demon in human form, and recently he got captured by the marines. He's held at a Marine Base nearby. Why do you ask, Luffy-san?"

"I'm going to ask him to join my crew", he grinned in response. "If he's a good guy!"

Law laughed. "That'll be interesting to see! A pirate hunter becoming a pirate, huh."

"Luffy-san, you can't! He's captured 'cause he's a bad guy! He gives me the cree-" Coby trailed off, looking at Law who blinked in confusion as he noticed the pink-haired boy looking at him. "... uh... Well, as I was saying, you can't make your crew much scarier than it already is!"

"What's that supposed to mean...?"

**AN: There we go! I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Straw and Fluff! Please review, whether you liked it or not! I want to improve! I hope I didn't go too OOC on Law... For some reason he doesn't really seem like a "I want to be the Pirate King" kinda guy to me, even though he is after the One Piece. Anyone feel the same? Oh well, thanks so much for reading and don't forget to review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: T-Twelve reviews?! 21 followers?! 20 faves?! In three days?! I... I... words can't describe this so just imagine a cat dancing a stupidly silly dance to express my happines ;w; I just hope this chapter won't let you down... There are probably lots of things I could do better, and I probably will rewrite this some time, but I just really wanted to get to the next chapter... I've been planning most stuff for the later arcs, so, as the ball of writing-energy I am, I'll post it like this... Also I noticed I don't make Law and Luffy interact so much in these two chapters o.O what the hell's with that? Oh well, I hope I don't disappoint you guys! *gives you air-hugs from probably another side of the world* You're all making my week! ;w;  
EDIT: Fixed the stuff the reviewers told me about! Ugh, looking back at it today I must say I'm disappointed with myself XD Oh well, now it's fixed at least. Hmm... I wonder... is this what it feels like, when you have a hangover? You look at the things you did the former day and think "Holy shit that was stupid" XD ah, whatevs. Just hope you enjoy it a tad more when it's fixed.**

Chapter 2  
~The Swordsman~

"Laaaaand~!" Luffy exclaimed in a sing-song voice as they indeed reached land and his feet touched solid ground.

"If you're gonna be that happy everytime we get to an island then maybe sea-life isn't for you", Law commented, binding the rope to the ship to a pole by the harbor and then turning to Coby. "By the way, you're pretty good at navigating. Sure you wanna join those marines? Why don't you become our navigator instead? Would save us the hassle to look for another one."

Coby gave a short, nervous laugh. "Ah, thanks, Law-san, but I went here to fullfill my dream, you know. To bec-"

"To become a marine is your dream, I know", the doctor finished, picking up his nodachi and getting up from his crouching position. "More importantly, this is Shells Town where that Roronoa Zoro-ya guy is held, right?"

"Really?! Where is he, that demon?" asked Luffy excitedly.

"You're still thinking about that? Luffy-san, I told you, he'll kill you if you try to ask him that!" Coby whined. His whining proved to be futile though as the duo of pirates walked into Shells Town, completely ignoring him. Tears of anxiety forced themselves over the edges of the pink-haired boy's eyes. "Why are they like this..."

i...i

"I don't like this town", Law declared, glaring at the smiling faces around him. "It's too happy."

Luffy took an apple from a stand and threw a coin to the salesman. "I think it's nice. It has food, for example, which is a plus!"

"And it's a great Marine Base, too!" Coby said excitedly. "I can't wait to join them!"

"Well, I don't like it", their mushroom-hatted, half-insane companion repeated stubbornly. "Let's just find this Roronoa Zoro-ya guy and he better join 'cause-" He trailed off as he noticed that the people around them had lost their happy faces and were pushing themselves to the walls in fear. "- what the heck are they doing?"

Eyes wide in alarm turned Coby to Luffy, trying desperately to change his mind. "See, Luffy-san?! Everyone's afraid of Zoro! Even though Captain Morgan is currently in charge of-" He stopped as everyone jumped again in fear. "- what?"

Luffy began to laugh loudly, saying "This sure is a funny town!" while his crewmate frowned in confusion. "Since the rumor says that the Pirate Hunter Zoro-ya is a demon in human form, I understand that they'd be scared scared even though we only mentioned his name and it seems kind of pointless to be scared just because we did mention his name, but... aren't marines supposed to be honored and respected in towns like these?"

"Maybe they did it for fun!" Luffy suggested, still laughing.

His friends sweatdropped. "No, I highly doubt that..."

"Then, maybe that Morgan guy did something bad?" he suggested instead.

"That's impossible!" Coby exclaimed.

Law rolled his eyes at the pink-haired boy. "Just because he's a marine doesn't mean he can't do bad stuff."

"He's a Captain, so he's trusted to do what's right!" the boy protested stubbornly.

"Ugh, let's just go to the damned Marine Base and get that pirate hunter to join us. I'll take his organs if he doesn't. Probably will even if he does... Oh, that would be such a fun operation", Law murmured, smiling wickedly at the thought, which caused the glasses-wearing boy beside him to back away from him with a frightened face. He blinked in confusion at the boy. "What?"

"N-Nothing... Nothing at all, Dr. Trafalgar-sama", the boy stuttered, quivering like a an autumn leaf in the cold winds of fall.

"Trafalgar-sama" raised an eyebrow, even more confused. "'Dr. Trafalgar-sama'? What's with the sudden use of my last name? And '-sama' on top of that? That sounds sort of wei-"

"Come on, you guys! Let's get our demon!" his captain called, half-running ahead. The other two shrugged and quickened their pace to catch up with the energetic red-vested, black-haired, straw-hat wearing teen. After some minutes of walking, they arrived by a wall protecting a pretty big fortress. Coby stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the building. "S-So this is it... I'm finally becoming a marine... Luffy-san, Dr. Trafalgar-sama (said doctor sweatdropped at this), thank you so much for helping me, but it's time to part wa-"

"Human Demon, where might you be~?" Luffy sang cheerily, climbing up on the wall.

Law stood firm on the ground, looking up at his captain while sighing exasperatedly. "Luffy-ya, you're interrupting people when they're talking too much today. Besides, we won't be able to find him out in the open. Marines don't keep their prisoners outsi-"

"There he is!"

"-see?! Now you're interrupting again. You need to let people fini- wait what?" The doctor scrambled up on the wall, clinging to its edge beside his captain. Shortly after the doctor, the wimpy to-be-marine climbed up as well.

Blood slowly running cold, Coby stared at the sight behind those walls. In the middle of the yard outside the fortress was a man, bound to a pole resembling a cross by ropes. A black bandana covered his green hair and a white shirt covered his torso. A green waistband held up his dark green trousers which were tucked into his black boots. "N-No way... it's really him... it's the pirate hunter, Roronoa Zoro!" he gasped, still not fully believing what he was seeing.

Law blinked as he studied the shape of the bound swordsman critically. "Huh... I had hoped that he would be something that would be more fun to dissect, like a Zoan Devil's Fruit user or a merman... Other than that, he looks sort of strong. He probably won't be a nuisance, at least."

"You can't dissect my crew, Traffy!" Luffy grumbled, leaning forward to glare into Law's eyes. "They can't fight if you dissect them!"  
"Luffy-san, that's not the problem..." Coby wailed without being heard.

"Oi, you three."

The trio's attention was drawn back to the imprisoned bounty hunter as it appeared that he had spoken to them.

He raised his head, revealing his scowling face from the shadow of his bandana. "You're bothering me. Get lost."

Coby was now trembling more than ever and scooted closer to Luffy. "See, Luffy-san?! You can't possibly recruit a guy like him! His eyes are just showing blood-thirst and insani...ty..." He trailed off, staring at Law, who was mumbling things about needing more kidneys to his collection before reluctantly continuing. "... Even though you're probably used to those kinds of guys... If you recruit him, it doesn't matter how strong you are or how many lives you have! -Huh?" He turned his head around as the sound of wood meeting stone caught his attention. The two pirates turned their heads to the sound as well.

A girl who was only a tiny bit shorter than Coby was placing a ladder against the wall and climbing up to the top of the wall. When she noticed the stares from the odd trio she placed her index finger over her mouth and hushed them. She then proceeded by throwing down a rope which she used to climb down from the wall on the other side and ran to the bounty hunter once her feet touched the ground.

"Luffy-san, stop her! She's gonna get killed!" Coby exclaimed in a sort of hushed tone.

"Do it yourself!" the straw-hat wearing pirate pouted.

"Why wasn't I included in the 'rescue her' team?" Law queried, not really caring but wondering still. He flicked Coby's nose. "I'm beginning to think you don't like me, Coby-ya..."

"E-Eh?! N-No, it's no-nothing like t-that, Dr. Trafalgar-sama!" the boy with pink hair protested, flustered. "I-It's just that-"

"Eh, well, it's fine. I don't really like you either", the doctor shrugged, focusing his gaze on the girl and the bound bounty hunter and being oblivious to the pink-haired boy's depressed expression.

Roronoa Zoro the Pirate Hunter looked down on the girl, scowling still. "What?"

The girl smiled brightly. "You're hungry, aren't you? I made some riceballs for you."

Zoro remained uninterested. "You're gonna get killed if you stay here, you know. Go away."

"You haven't eaten anything though", the girl persisted, opening the bundle in her arms and holding forward a pair of riceballs. "Here! I made them myself. It's my first time, but I hope you like them!"

That seemed to affect the swordsman though. His eyes widened slightly and his scowl was replaced for a second by a baffled expression. "I'm not hungry! You're annoying me! Hurry up and go away."

"But..." the girl began, sounding incredibly disappointed.

"I don't want any!" he snarled. "Leave me be or I'll kill you!"

"You shouldn't bully kids, Roronoa Zoro", a sudden voice said as a gate opened and a blonde man with an onion-like haircut in a purple suit followed by two marines walked inside, towards Zoro and the girl.

Coby let out a breath of relief. "Thank goodness, the marines are here. The girl should be okay now."

"He looks weird", Luffy said, staring blankly at the new-comers.

"And stupid", Law concurred.

The weird-and-stupid looking blonde man walked up to Zoro and the girl with a smug grin on his face. He caught sight of the riceballs and picked up one without permission. "Oh, these look good. Thanks." He shoved it into his mouth in spite of the girl's protest, but then spat it out with a disgusted look on his weird-and-stupid looking face. "Blegh! This is horrible! Why is it sweet?! Riceballs should be salty!"

"B-But... I thought it'd taste better if it they were sweet...!" the girl said, her voice shaking now.

The blonde man snorted and smashed the riceballs into the ground, stomping on them repeatedly. Crouching down, the brunette girl tried to stop him. "Stop it! He can't eat them like this!" she wailed, about to cry.

"What a horrible thing to do..." Coby said breathlessly, still hanging on the wall together with Luffy and Law. The other two remained silent, watching the scene without as much as batting an eye.

Once the man finally stopped and revealed the dusty mess which was left of the riceballs, the girl couldn't hold it any longer and she started to cry. "I tried to make it good... I tried to make it with all my heart..." she whimpered, her shoulders shaking.

"Aww, haven't you seen this poster yet?" the man said in a complaining tone. He picked out a poster from his chest which caused Law to comment "Oh, he's even more woman-alike than I thought", which then caused Coby to reply "This isn't the time, Dr. Trafalgar-san" and Luffy to giggle. "It says 'Anyone who helps this criminal will be executed'", the weird man continued. "'Marine Captain Morgan'. In other words, it's my dad's orders." The girl froze and the man laughed. "Heh, brat, you know who my father is, right? Well", he glanced back at his bodyguards, "toss this kid out now."

The bodyguard who was asked to do so flinched and gasped in disbelief. He quickly recovered though in fear of being the one who was executed instead and leaned down to pick up the girl. "I'm sorry I must hurt you, little one", he apologized just as he raised her in the air and sent her flying across the wall. Law raised his hand with the word "DEATH" written on each of his five knuckles to use "Room", but Luffy leapt after the girl and caught her mid-air before the doctor could do anything.

"Luffy-san! Are you okay?!" Coby exclaimed, jumping down from the wall and rushing forward to the black-haired pirate and the little girl with the pigtails. Luffy only stood up as a response and brushed off some dust from his vest while Coby checked the girl to make sure she didn't have any injuries. "Okay... good, doesn't look like anything's damaged. Luffy-san, you're not inj- Not here!" The last part was a surprised shriek as he noticed that the two pirates were out of sight. "Why are they like this...?"

i...i

The sounds of footsteps coming closer reached the green-haired swordsman's ears and Zoro looked up groggily to see a face he had not expected to see. He had expected to see the ugly face of Captain Morgan's bastard son coming back after retreating to the fortress for some stupid reason, not that straw-hatted freak's inhumanly wide grin and his mushroom-hatted friend who seemed like the kind of guy you would run away from if he came at you with a needle. "Now what?" he questioned, making sure his tone was as patronizing as it could be. "Didn't I tell you to go away? Besides, you heard the bastard son, didn't you? You'll get executed, you know."

To his slight surprise, the strangers were unfazed. Not even offended by his tone. Instead, the straw-hatted one's stupidly wide grin grew even wider. "So you're Roronoa Zoro, huh? A bad guy, I heard. Being publicly humiliated... are you really strong?"

Zoro had only known this kid in a couple of seconds and he could already tell that it was an annoying kid. "Mind your own business, brats!"

"Oi, oi, I'm probably older than you", the mushroom-hat said, looking up from the shadow of his hat. "Don't throw the word 'brat' around at anyone you as you please." Once again Zoro felt slightly surprised. Despite his words, mushroom-hat had a smirk on his face and his tone wasn't angry or annoyed. It sounded more as if he was... amused.

Straw-hat took a couple of steps forward, placing his hand on his hat as he looked at Zoro with a confident smile. "I'd have escaped within three days if I was in that situation!" he boasted.

"I wouldn't have been captured in the first place", mushroom-hat responded, still smirking. "If I did get captured, I'd get rid of those ropes in a second anyways."

Zoro huffed and returned their confidents smirks with his own confident smirk. "I'm different from you. I'll survive to show them. Definitely."

Mushroom "ooh"ed in realization. "I see! So this is something about a swordsman's idiotic pride or something."

"Don't speak of things you don't understand", Zoro retorted, glaring at the man with the fluffy hat. Glancing at the nodachi in the man's hand, he added, "Especially not the things you should understand, but don't."

"Oh, right, sorry", mushroom chuckled. "Sorry I'm not an honorable swordsman. It doesn't in particular have a nice ring to it, so I chose not to be one." He turned to straw-hat. "So, Luffy, what do you think? Good guy or bad guy?"

"I don't know", straw admitted, holding his chin with his hand. "I'll need more time to decide that."

Zoro sweat-dropped. "You know, I'm right here..."

"We know that", straw said, looking at him as if he was an idiot. "We're not blind and deaf. If we were, you'd cure it, wouldn't you, Traffy!"

"There's no cure to blindness or deafness. And stop calling me Traffy, Luffy-ya." Mushroom, apparently called 'Traffy', whipped around and began walking towards the exit. "Let's go. Coby and that girl must be wondering what the hell we're doing."

'Luffy-ya' shrugged with a smile at Zoro before he turned to follow 'Traffy'. "You're a stubborn guy, aren't you", he said cheerfully, raising his hand to wave a short good-bye.

"Wait", the swordsman ordered, which led 'Luffy-ya' to freeze. "Can you get that for me?" he asked, cocking his head to the flat white-and-brown mess that once was a riceball.

"Sure you want this? It's all dirty now", the black-haired teen queried, looking doubtfully at the mess he was currently picking up.

"Luffy-ya!"

"Wait just a moment, Traffy!" he called over his shoulder to his comrade before turning his head back to the swordsman. "Anyways, as I was saying, you sure you wanna eat this?"

"Just give it to me already!" Zoro snarled impatiently. 'Luffy-ya' shrugged once again and handed the mess to his mouth. Hungrily, he dug in, trying in vain to suppress his coughing. "Before you say anything", he growled between his chewing, "I don't need any smart-ass comments now. It's delicious. Thanks for the food."

Straw-hat, or Luffy-ya or whatever, smiled so stupidly innocently and understandingly that Zoro felt like spitting out the riceball he had just eaten at the damn kid's face.

i...i

"Really?!" the girl with the pigtails, apparently named Rika, exclaimed happily.

Luffy nodded. "Yup! Ate it all up. He said it was delicious!"

Rika seemed to just barely manage to keep herself from bouncing up and down in joy. Even Law had to admit that it was pretty cute. Not out loud though. Hah, Hell'd freeze over before Law admitted that something was cute out loud.

Coby, however, was troubled, unlike the other three. "Is Zoro really a bad guy like everyone says...?"

"He's not!" Rika protested, surprisingly fiercely for such a young girl. "He's in jail because of us here in Shells Town..."

Law lifted his head from the wall he was leaning on. "Really? How come?"

Rika gulped and spilled out the whole story about how Zoro had rescued them from Helmeppo's pet wolf (apparently Helmeppo was the name of that weird blonde guy from earlier) and offered to stay tied to that pole a whole month in exchange that the people remained unharmed.

"That was three weeks ago", Rika concluded, frowning at the memory. "Helmeppo kicks and punches Zoro while he's tied up there, and he bullies him too. I... I..." She buried her face in her hands, sobbing lightly.

"So that's what happened..." Coby said, a new respect forming for the imprisoned bounty hunter. Luffy and Law were quiet, glancing at the Marine Base as if they could see the subject of the conversation there even though it was far too far away and walls secluded him from their sights. A sudden crash of glass splittering from inside the restaurant tore their gazes away and the four of them ran in through the entrance to see what was going on.

"I'm hungry!" a familiar, incredibly spoiled-sounding voice said. "We're all going to eat for free. Heeheehee! Hurry and bring the alcohol!" To everyone's irritation, it was of course the blonde onion-head called Helmeppo. He laughed smugly as Rika's mother poured out wine into his glass. "Oh right, right. Since I am so very tired of waiting, I just decided that I'm going to kill Zoro off a little earlier. Tomorrow, so to say. You're all welcome to come and watch! Looking forward to it!" Another gush of his annoying laughter flew from his lips.

Only this time, to Law's satisfaction, it was interrupted as a certain red-vested pirate's strong fist embedding itself into the bastard's face. Law smirked, about to unsheath his nodachi when Coby rushed forward and stopped his captain from reconstructing the little bastard's face further.

"Luffy-san, stop!" the pink-haired boy wailed.

"He's nothing but trash!" Luffy snarled in response.

"You-you hit me!" Helmeppo yelped, holding his hand over the bruise that Luffy's fist had left. "I'm Morgan's son!"

"Yeah, nobody cares, little shit", Law snapped uninterestedly, causing said little shit to push himself to the wall in shock. Ignoring him, Law turned to Coby with a disappointed expression. "More importantly, Coby-ya, why did you stop Luffy-ya? I was looking forward to finally cutting that blonde shit up." The little shit let out a shriek of fear at his words and said something about getting the two of them executed, but everyone was ignoring him at this point anyways so it didn't matter.

"I've decided, Law, Coby", Luffy said determinedly. "I'm going to make Zoro our nakama!"

Law grinned. "Finally!"

"You can't take his organs."

"Well you're no fun at all..."

i...i

_The sounds of bamboo swords split the silent night air. Even from far away you could hear them clashing, until it ended with the sound of one of the fighters falling to the ground._

_'You're weak as always, Zoro.'_

Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro woke up with a jolt, wincing a bit in the process because of his strained limbs. After being tied up in nearly a month, it was only natural for his limbs to hurt as if they'd gone through hell and back. God knew how much it would hurt to finally be released from those goddamn ropes.

"Oi! You awake?"

Zoro swore he could hear his own scowl carving through his face as he looked up to see a familiar face. "You again, Straw-hat? Don't you have anything better to do?"

"Well, I'm going to release you so you can join my crew", Straw-hat or Luffy-ya or whatever his name was said bluntly.

"What did you say?" Zoro questioned in disbelief.

"I'm looking for people to join my crew, and you seem like a good guy", Straw-hat explained, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Zoro snorted. "I refuse! You want me to be a bad guy?"

"Well, everyone thinks you're a bad guy anyways so it won't make much difference", the evidently-pirate shrugged.

"I don't care what people say", Zoro replied stubbornly. "I have no regrets in what I've done. I live to do what I want to do, and that's it."

Straw-hat grinned. "Really... too bad, I've already decided that you are going to join my crew and become my nakama!"

The bounty hunter's teeth bared in a snarl. "You can't decide those things by yourself!"

Straw-hat laughed a peculiar laughter, it sounded like 'shishishishi'. "Where's your sword?"

"Huh?" Zoro frowned and blinked in confusion.

"I asked where your sword is", Straw-hat repeated.

"Uh... That bastard son of the Captain took it and keeps it in his room, I think", Zoro replied, eyes twitching slightly. "Why?"

"I'll get your sword for you, so you'll become my nakama!" Straw-hat declared proudly.

"Are you even trying to listen to me?!" Zoro blurted out, his patience running out. The boy ignored him though and head straight into the Marine Base. His eyes widened in astonishment. "Is he going to attack the base by himself?"

"Afraid he is", another familiar voice grumbled. Zoro turned his head to see Straw-hat's companion, 'Traffy', walking towards him. "Selfish bastard said he'd do it himself. Well, whatever. If something goes wrong then I'll have the pleasure to say 'I told you so', at least."

The swordsman narrowed his eyes. "Are you on that idiot's crew?"

"Correct, as much as I hate to admit it", 'Traffy' confessed with a smirk and a shrug. "This little guy isn't though. He's going to join the Marines." A tiny pink-haired boy rushed out from the hiding place behind 'Traffy' and ran up to Zoro, beginning to untie the ropes binding him to the pole.

"Idiot, you're going to get killed if you do that!" Zoro hissed. "Besides, I can't escape now! Only ten days left!"

"More like less than twenty-four hours left", 'Traffy' retorted, calmly looking up at the fortress where his captain had disappeared. "That little brat, Helmeppo or whatever, plans on executing you tomorrow if you stay here. Luffy-ya heard him say so out loud and punched his face. It was extremely satisfying, you should've seen it, by the way. He's definitely being chased by marines right now, though, so I'll probably need to help him clear the way a bit. Once you're released, would you like to fight them off as well? Just for the sake of cutting up those who imprisoned you."

The tiny pink-haired boy smiled nervously at him. "What Dr. Trafalgar-sama (at this, Law waved his hand with a baffled expression and said "Seriously, stop calling me that, it's weird") is failing to say is... well, he's probably not thinking about it this way, but what I want to say is: Please, help Luffy-san. I believe you can help him ("He didn't even want any help to begin with, pinky"). You and Dr. Trafalgar-sama ("Eh, I give up") are the only ones who can help him."

Zoro stared at the two for a while before turning his green gaze forward, determination filling his eyes to the brim. It was a pretty serious moment which was completely broken by the sound of a sword's hilt hitting someone's head lightly.

"Seriously, how long time can it take to untie a couple of ropes, Coby-ya", Trafalgar muttered, pushing Coby sort-of-harshly-yet-sort-of-gently out of the way with the hilt of his nodachi. "Step aside. I'll cut his arms off along with the ropes, so it'll be easier."

Both Coby and Zoro's eyes widened in alarm. "Don't!" they exclaimed at the same time.

Trafalgar blinked, frowning in both puzzlement and in insult, as if they had offended him. "What? It'll be much easier. I might cut through you anyways if I just try to cut the ropes. If I cut your arms along with them, though..."

"I want to keep my arms, thank you very much!" Zoro snapped.

Trafalgar blinked once again, all the more puzzled and insulted. "Of course you'll keep your arms. I'm a doctor for crying out loud."

"Oh right, you can just sew them on again..." Zoro said in realization.

"That's not how it works! Oh wait, Dr. Trafalgar-san's ability, I see..." said Coby, letting out a breath of relief. Then he seeemed to remember something and added in a frantic tone: "Wait! You could just cut off the ropes that aren't close to his arms, Dr. Trafalgar-san!"

Zoro quirked an eyebrow. "What ability?"

Before any of them could answer, a new voice spoke up. "Stop right there, traitors!" the cursed voice of Captain Morgan ordered. "As punishment for betraying me, you shall be executed here and now!"

Coby screamed in fear, Zoro's eyes widened and he gritted his teeth and Trafalgar... smirked. As always. He simply lifted his hand with the tattoos of the letters to the word "DEATH" and seemed to... wait for something. If Zoro didn't know any better, he might have thought that the mushroom-hatted man was waiting for the bullets. Not waiting for them as if he was waiting for death, but more as if they couldn't hurt him.  
'What the hell is up with this guy...?'

"FIRE!"

Zoro closed his eyes, repeating 'I can't die like this' inside of his head over and over again.

Pew, pew, pew. The guns had fired. 'I can't die like this, I can't die like this, I can't die like this!'

"Shambles."

Sudden screams of agony brought Zoro's attention back to the outside world. He looked down, inspecting his body, expecting to see lots of wounds from the bullets, but instead saw that it was just as fine as it was before.

Captain Morgan, however, was in a completely different state.

Several bullets had pierced his knees, elbows, shoulders and ankles and he had fallen to the ground, unable to stand with so many bullets in those particular areas. The marines were staring at Trafalgar, eyes wide with alarm and disbelief. "W-Where did those bullets come from?! Where did our bullets go?!" they exclaimed in panic.

Trafalgar's smirk grew wider. "Those bullets were your bullets. I merely switched them around and sent them flying to our dear Captain Morgan instead."

"What?!" Zoro stared at the man before him, his confusion reaching a dangerous level.

The body of a young teenager hit the ground, feet first in front of the trio consisting of Trafalgar, Zoro and Coby. That teenager was Luffy who had jumped from the tower and landed on the ground perfectly fine in spite of falling more than a douzen of meters.

"Yosh! I knew it'd be alright if I left you with them, Law!" he laughed cheerfully. He spun around, facing Zoro. "I got your swords~ There were three, but I didn't know which one to take so I took all of them."

"Y-You two! What the hell are you?!" Zoro couldn't help but to burst out that very question, 'cause after what he had witnessed, he really needed to ask that question. Mindfucks need explanations, you know.

"Oh, us? Well, I am Luffy, the man who will become the Pirate King!" Luffy said with a grin. "And this is Toraogulfar-"

"I'm Trafalgar Law, the doctor and first mate of his crew", Trafalgar finished, glaring at his captain irritably. "I'll always introduce myself from now on, Luffy-ya."

"W...What? Become the Pirate King? Do you even know what that means?!" Zoro queried, his expression remaining baffled, puzzled and confused as hell.

"Becoming the Pirate King speaks for itself, doesn't it?" Luffy replied. "What else could it mean?"

Well, that didn't soothe his confusion at all. Quite the contrary.

"I was surprised too", Coby said, looking excited, "but Luffy-san is serious! That the kind of person he is! He's going to find the ultimate treasure, One Piece!"

"That's all fine and dandy, but what are you two?" Zoro questioned, staring them down with a hard glint in his eyes.

"A... Are you... Devil's Fruit users?" huffed Morgan, who was bleeding helplessly on the ground.

Law turned to the bloody heap behind the marines, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, you're still alive. Congratulations." He looked up with a frown at the marines who looked extremely conflicted at the moment. "But what's up with you marines? Your captain is bleeding and can't stand up, and all you're doing is watch? Shouldn't you help him? Or, I don't know, try to capture the ones who just attacked your captain." The marines remained still. "... No? Okay, whatever..."

Even Luffy noticed that it was strange of marines to do so, but turned to Zoro once again. "Anyways, which sword is yours?"

"All three of them", Zoro replied, finally beginning to be able to digest the oddness of everything. "I use three swords."

Luffy let out a little confused "Hmm...", as if he was wondering how he did that but grinned nonetheless. "You'll take them, right? But if we fight together, you'll owe me! Being killed by marines or coming with me... which one do you pick?"

"You're the son of the devil, aren't you?" Zoro smirked. "Fine! I'd rather become a pirate than dying here!"

While Luffy began celebrating, Law cut off the ropes (without cutting off his arms, to his relief) and released the swordsman. Like he had suspected, his limbs were hurting like hell after being tied up for such a long time and Law offered him a hand to help him get up on his stiff legs.

"They're letting Zoro go... Marines! Don't just stand there! If bullets don't work, use your swords!" Morgan ordered, his eyes bloodshot and about to pop out of his skull as he tried to stand up on his mangled knees.

Terrified by the sight of their Captain like that, the marines picked up their swords and rushed at the odd quartet.

"Room." A blue orb surrounded them as Law uttered that sole word. He unsheathed his nodachi and began slicing through the air, cutting the marines into pieces in the process. "Shambles." He moved around his hands and the orb turned into a whirlpool of live bodyparts flying around, until he stopped by putting those bodyparts wherever he pleased.

Well, that didn't soothe Zoro's mindfuck at all. Pretty much the contrary.

Law realeased the orb, sheathed his sword and let it rest on his shoulder. "Small fry shouldn't even try to oppose me. You'll end up humiliated beyond reason."

"Gum-Gum Whip!" Luffy shouted as his leg stretched and literally whiped the floor with the literally reconstructed marines.

The marines reactions were any normal man's reaction. "WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?!"

Zoro had simply accepted that nothing made sense anymore and that birds could obviously turn into ugly pegasuses now (get it? No? Skypiea arc? Anyone?). "Seriously, what are you guys?"

"Oh, I'm a rubber man and Law's an operation man", Luffy explained, tugging at the inside of his cheeks with his fingers to stretch them out more than a normal human would be able to do. "I ate the Gomu Gomu No Mi and he ate the Ope Ope No Mi. They're Devil's Fruits!"

"We'll drown if we fall into the sea, so you're sort of needed if we're going to survive", Law added. He looked like he was going to say something more, but a gurgling scream interrupted him.

"You weaklings! All of you! How can you fall to mere pirates?!" came Morgan's scream, as he groggily stood up. The marines and Coby gasped in shock at the pretty intimidating man. After all, a tall muscular man with an iron jaw, an axe-arm who is bleeding from horrible wounds looks pretty much like something from your nightmares.

"Idiot", Law muttered, sounding sort of doctor-ishly annoyed yet keeping his trademark smirk on as if it still amused him to see the Captain wince in pain (what a great doctor, huh). "The wounds'll get worse if he strains himself. He's too stubborn for his own good."

Luffy simply dashed forward and punched the axe-handed Captain's face. The Captain tried to block it with his axe, but the bloodloss had made him dizzy and his reflexes were slowed down.

"Crush those marines, Luffy-san!" Coby cheered. Zoro unsheathed his swords, ready to fight if he needed to. It didn't seem like it though, as Luffy was currently holding Morgan pinned to the ground while punching his face repeatedly. Zoro and Law watched some meters away with some satisfaction to see that guy get pummeled.

Then, of course, someone had to interrupt it, because clearly it was this island's hobby.

"S-Stop it, Straw-Hatt!" Helmeppo called, pointing a gun at Coby as he had apparently turned into a ninja and managed to appear out of nowhere. Seemingly. Luffy did not hear him though and continued to punch the onion-head's father. "Stop it you idiot! Can't you see I have a hostage here!"

Since Luffy still didn't hear, Zoro had to tell him while Law stared at Helmeppo, wondering how the fuck he and Zoro didn't notice that the spoiled blonde had come and taken Coby hostage. "Oi. Look up."

This time, Luffy did stop and turned to see the blonde whose hands and legs were trembling. "If you care about four-eyes' life, don't move! I'll shoot him!"

Luffy stared blankly at the two of them and Coby stared back, looking as if he really was ready to die. "Luffy-san! I don't want to interfere with your dream, even if I die!"

"Yeah, I know!" the red-vested teen smiled. He lifted his fist and held his arm with his other hand. "Give it up, you stupid moron. Coby is serious." With that said, he approached the hostage and the onion-head.

"I'M THE CAPTAIN OF THE MARINES, AXE-HAND MORGAN!" Morgan shouted as he raised his axe-hand in the air above Luffy, ready to strike down. Quick as a flash, Zoro cut the Captain just before his axe touched Zoro's own, newly appointed captain's head and that newly appointed captain's fist embedded itself into Helmeppo's face once again.

"Nice, Zoro!"

"It was nothing, captain."

Thus, it was all over.

All except for one little detail.

Law turned to the stunned marines, their bodies still screwed up by Law's little 'operation'. "Marines! If you still want to fight, step forward. If you don't, I'll get your bodies back to usual as long as we get to leave this island peacefully. Is that clear?"

To his surprise, the marines began dancing and cheering in joy (which, with their screwed up bodies, looked really odd), throwing away their swords if they still were holding them. "I'll... take that as a yes, then."

"Their captain was defeated and they're celebrating?" said Luffy, watching the marines eagerly wait for Law to change them back to usual.

"It's because everyone was afraid of Morgan!" Coby burst out gleefully.

Zoro let out a muffled grunt and fell to the ground, cutting his new friends' joy short.

"Zoro-san, what's the matter?! Are you injured?!"

"Ugh, he's only been in the crew a couple of minutes and already I'll have to treat him..."

"No... I'm just... hungry."

i...i

"Aaah, I'm stuffed!" Zoro declared, patting his stomach, pleased with his meal. "This food was worth those three weeks without eating!"

He and his crewmates were sitting in Rika's restaurant, given free food and the admiration of the town as a token of their gratitude.

Monkey D. Luffy pulled out the fork in his mouth, staring questionably at the swordsman. "Is that all you're gonna eat?"

"I don't understand how you can eat more than me", the swordsman scowled, pointing at the many plates that had been emptied by his captain.

"Get used to it", Law said, handing over a loaf of bread to their captain. "I'm worried that all the money's going to go to solely feeding him."

"How rude!" Luffy pouted, his face stuffed with the bread Law just had handed him. "I don't eat that much! At least I can eat bread, Traffy."

A vein appeared by Law's left temple. "That has nothing to do with this, Luffy-ya. At least I try to make sure Zoro-ya does not feel like he's made a mistake by joining your crew..."

Small beads of sweat appeared on the green-haired swordsman's forehead and he quickly changed the subject. "You said you were looking for more members to your crew. To become the Pirate King you must have quite the crew already."

"Yup, I do", Luffy replied, smiling in spite of his face still being stuffed. "You and Traffy."

"Huh?! Then..."

"Yup. Us three."

"Can we really be pirates with only three people?"

"We're all strong, so it'll be fine!"

"Strong or not, we'll need a navigator and a cook too", Law put in, whacking their captain on the back of his head. "And that boat we've got currently won't make it to the Grand Line, especially since you and me can't swim."

"Speaking of which, where is our ship?" Zoro queried, a bit worried what the answer might be judging from Law's reaction. The crew's doctor namely looked away, looking troubled for some reason as he and their captain pointed towards the harbor through the window. Slightly hesitant, the swordsman walked over to the window and looked outside. There, by the harbor, was a very small boat. Probably smaller than most lifeboats, even. "...That?"

"It's small now, but I'll get us a really big one!" Luffy stated, gesturing with his hands in a wide circle as to show how big he meant.

His green-haired crewmate laughed at that. "How?"

"He got a half-insane doctor from the sea and a bloodthirsty swordsman from a Marine Base, I'm pretty sure getting a ship will be a piece of cake with a thought of all these weird coincidences he comes across", said Law with a shrug.

"Luffy-san was born without planning abilities", Coby said, who was also currently eating in Rika's restaurant, in an excusing tone.

"Luffy, where are you going now?" Rika asked curiously.

"Oh, me, Zoro and Torao are heading to Grand Line now", the straw-hat wearing boy responded cheerfully.

Coby's juice he was drinking came out again through his mouth and nostrils. "You can't go to the Grand Line with only the three of you! No matter what, that's impossible! The Grand Line is extremely dangerous. You all know there are two oceans in this world, right? There's a road in the center called Red Line..."

Law stopped listening, for it was things he had known in ages. He didn't intervene with Coby's explaining though because if he did intervene it'd be his job to explain the whole thing to his empty-headed captain. And that is a torture he'd rather stay away from.

Once Coby finished he opened his ears to the outside world again to hear his captain's reply to the explaination. "But One Piece is there somewhere, so we'll have to go."

"Well, I guess we have no choice", Zoro shrugged, leaning back on his chair with a grin.

"You worry too much, Coby-ya", Law smirked. "You're not even coming along and yet you're talking about it as if your life's on the line."

"Even though I'm not going, I'm worried", the pink-haired boy said, looking genuinely concerned. "Can't I do that? Because Luffy-san and I are friends, even though we just met... right?"

Luffy's smile was as wide as ever. "Yep! We're parting ways, but we'll always be friends!"

Looking down a little in modesty, Coby smiled. "When I was little, I never had any friends. No one ever stood up for me, and I never stood up for myself. But because of you three, I've learned to strive for my own goals! I'm going to make my childhood dream come true! I will become a marine!"

"Sure you will, but it will not be easy", the doctor of the crew said, his eyes narrowed at the boy. He knew this would be cruel, but using honeyed words wasn't his style. "I know you were forced into it, you still served under a pirate. A pirate famous enough to have a bounty, at that. You shouldn't underestimate marines' information intelligence. If they do find out, you won't be able to join. It is good that you've learned to stand up for yourself, but because you didn't do it sooner you might've ruined your dream on your own."

While Coby looked horrified and Rika and her mother looked at him as if he had said something terribly offending, Luffy didn't mind and Zoro looked like he agreed with Law.

Speaking of the devil, the marines opened the door and entered the restaurant, halting by the pirates' table. "Excuse me. Are you truly pirates?"

"Yup, we're pirates!" "What he said." "Since recently, yes."

The marine at the head of the line sighed heavily. "We are very grateful for taking care of Morgan, but pirates are pirates. We won't report you to the headquarters, but we must ask you to leave immediately."

This did, of course, anger the people of Shells Town and they began to protest. Law let out a short laugh. "To think that townspeople are asking the marines to let some pirates to stay..."

"Well, shall we go?" his captain asked, and the crew stood up from their seats and strolled towards the exit. "Thanks for the food!"

"Are you their comrade?" the head-marine asked Coby, stopping the pirates in their tracks. Or, rather, it stopped the captain in his tracks and the other two stopped when they noticed their captain wasn't moving. When Coby didn't answer, the head-marine turned to the pirates. "Wait just a minute. Is he with you?"

"I know all about this guy", the captain responded. "There was this huge lady who looked like a fat duck!"

"Luffy-san!"

He ignored Coby's distraught voice and continued. "She had this big club... she was one ugly-looking hag! This guy sucked up that female pirate for two years!"

You could literally hear Coby's patience snapping as he punched Luffy in the face. It probably didn't hurt, but Luffy seemed to get mad anyhow and pummeled Coby to the ground. He punched him repeatedly, just like he had done with Morgan, and just like when he was punching Morgan, his crewmates had to tell him to stop.

"We get it! He's clearly not one of you", the head-marine said, glaring at Luffy for 'disturbing the peace'. "Just leave our town now!"

"Yeah, yeah, we're going", Law said, waving his hand casually at the marines. "Don't take brawls so seriously."

The trio left the restaurant and walked to the harbor, but while they were just outside the building they could hear Coby's determined voice asking to become a marine.

"Nice thing you did there, captain", Zoro said. "You've done too much for that kid", Law agreed. Luffy just shrugged with his usual grin.

As they boarded the boat and prepared to leave, they noticed three figures running towards them. It was Coby, Rika and her mother. The newly-made marine saluted them, and the rest of the marines of Shells Town followed suit.

"Well this sure is something", the former bounty hunter said, watching the town and his captain eagerly wave their hands in a farewell.

"Yup. Speaking of which..." Law began, raising his sheathed nodachi and jabbing it into Zoro's back, causing him to fall over board. "... you stink."

The eager farewells ended abruptly and everyone stared at the pirates.

"Bastard! What the hell was that?!" Zoro shouted in anger, crawling aboard again and grabbing Law by his collar.

"You've been without a bath in three weeks and you smell worse than a sweating polar bear", the doctor replied indifferently. "Besides, this boat is small and you're the only one who can swim. Naturally, you should swim by the side or something."

"Law, don't push my nakama overboard!" Luffy complained.

"You have to agree that he needed it, though", Law retorted.

"...Yeah, he sort of did."

"Why do I have to be in a crew like this?!"

"If you don't want to then I'll gladly take your organs."

"Shut up! I'll cut you up!"

"Both of you shut up! You can't begin a fight without me!"

"Let's wait with that until we're on solid ground, please."

**Omake:**

The trio were quietly enjoying the fine weather when Luffy suddenly spoke up. "Hey, Zoro, do you have a hat?"

Frowning, the green-haired swordsman shook his head. "No, I just have my bandana. Why?"

"Well, you'll have to get a hat!" his new captain whined.

Law let out an irritated sigh. "Why is that, Luffy?"

"Because you and me already have hats", he explained. "Zoro will look like an outsider if he doesn't get a hat!"

The two were completely silent, staring at their captain in disbelief. Then Law shrugged. "Fine. Let's get him a flower hat. Then we can call him 'Zoro-Baachan'."

"Yay!"

"WHAT THE HELL?! I refuse!"

"Captain's orders. Geez, Zoro, have you no sense of loyalty?"

"B-B-But...! I should at least have a choice!"

"Aw, you wish."

"... You're just agreeing with him to mess with me aren't you."

"Damn right."

* * *

**AN: ...Ok, fixed the stupid stuff at the end. I'm really sorry. I knew it wasn't good to write, eat chocolate and chips at 00:30 PM at the same time. Oh, and thanks to Mauritius to pointing out that Zoro must have an incredibly bad hygiene! Also, about having Zoro's limbs hurt after he was released, well, I just wanted to make it more realistic. Being tied up only a couple of hours already hurt a lot (I do not know this from self-experience, it's just that I've read in books that it does hurt), after three weeks they should be feeling like something exploded in them or something. Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed anyways! Thanks so much for reading and please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: SO. MUCH. DIALOGUE. UWOOOOH.  
Oh well, I'm freaking done uwu I hope it is not to disappointment! Enjoy the read, please!**

Chapter 3  
~The Cat Burglar~

_'So where did you come from, Traffy?' the boy with the straw-hat asked._

_'It's Tra-fal-gar, but call me Law, please. I come from North Blue', Law replied, bracing himself to answer the rain of questions that would emerge from what he had just said._

_However, that rain never came. 'Heeh... really? Is it nice up there? I've heard it snows a lot there.'_

_'U-Uh... yeah, it snows a lot there, at least where I live', Law said, staring in disbelief at the boy. 'Is that... all you're gonna ask?'_

_'Oh no, of course not!' the boy exclaimed and Law found himself almost letting out a breath of relief. The moment of relief was cut short though as the boy did ask something more. 'Do you poop?'_

_'WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT?!'_

_'I haven't met people from North Blue before, how should I know if you poop or not?!'_

_'I'm a human just like you! Can't you use your own eyes?! Even a blind man could tell!'_

_'Does that mean you do poop?'_

_'Ye- I mean what do you think, dumbass?!'_

"...ffy, stop that. He's going to kill you if he finds out what you're doing." Zoro's voice snapped up Law from his nap and he woke to see a marker pen a few inches away from his own face. Unamused, he slapped the pen away from the user's hand and let it fall into the ocean.

"Damn it, Zoro! You woke him up!" the user, namely Luffy, whined.

"I'd wake up once that pen touched my face and then you'd lose your hand, so you should thank him instead", Law growled.

The straw-hat wearing captain tilted his head to the side. "Huh? You'd bite my hand off? I didn't know you were a cannibal, Torao."

"I meant I'd cut it off", the doctor snapped irritably.

"Oh, that does make more sense!" the captain said, placing his right fist in his left palm in realization.

Law merely let out a frustrated snort and slouched on the railing. It wasn't the first time Luffy had tried to draw a moustache on his face. The first time, he had succeeded and had taunted Law once he woke up by saying "I moustache you a question, Traffy Torao..."

Of course, Law had cut him up with the Ope Ope No Mi power and threatened to throw his head in the sea, so he hadn't expected the to-be-Pirate King to ever do it again.

"Have you seen any land yet?" he asked, pushing Luffy away from him. Zoro shook his head.

"Nope. It's just sea everywhere. Do you even have an idea of where we're going?"

"No, I don't", Luffy replied bluntly. "I don't know anything about navigating. Law doesn't either."

"Shouldn't a captain know something about that?" the green-haired swordsman queried, quirking an eyebrow.

"I think it's practically impossible to teach him how to do things aside from using his fists", Law replied before his captain could. "It's pretty annoying."

"Law! Make some food!" Luffy suddenly prompted, ignoring Law's insult.

The doctor winced, seeming appalled at his captain's words. "What?! Why would I make food? We don't even have any ingredients to make food to begin with! You ate up all the food we brought from Shells Town."

"But you're the only one who can cook!" Luffy protested, gaining a comment from Zoro saying "how do you know I can't cook?".

"That doesn't matter if we don't have any ingridients. Plus, I can hardly cook", Law replied matter-of-factly. "I stuck my nose in some cooking books once or twice when I was a child and extremely bored. They didn't help my boredom at all, though..."

Disappointed and disgruntled directed Luffy his gaze to the blue sky above them, seemingly expecting some food to drop down from it. Law followed suit (though without the ridicolous expectation) while Zoro closed his eyes, falling half-asleep.

'Letting the ocean take us wherever it please won't be enough', Law thought, tearing his gaze off the sky to look at its gigantic mirror called the sea for a moment. 'We'll either die from starvation or from a storm sooner or later this way. We'll drift further away from the Grand Line, or worse, never even getting there. Our next crewmate'll have to be a navigator. Hopefully the next island we see has a damn good one, unless that's too good to be true.'

"Law! Zoro! Look, look!" Luffy suddenly exclaimed, pointing at the sky. His crewmates did as they were told and followed his excited index finger to see a big bird fly above them. "I'm going to catch it!"

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Luffy-ya", Law tried to warn, but his captain had already grabbed the sails and was preparing to launch himself into the air with a Gomu Gomu No Rocket.

And, wouldn't you know it, Law was right. Luffy's head got stuck in the bird's mouth and the bird carried him off to who knows where.

It took a few seconds for the duo of pirates who were left on the ship to process the whole thing. Then they hit the oars (or, well, Law left it to Zoro to row while he made sure Luffy and the bird were in sight) and rowed as fast as they (he) could.

"I'm guessing this is going to become a habit from now on?" Zoro grumbled gruffly to Law.

"Possibly", the doctor replied distantly. "I just hope he doesn't fall off now. You'll have to get him if that happens, you know."

"I know, I know! But can't you use that freaky ability of yours to cut the damn bird down?" queried the swordsman.

Law sighed as if he prepared to explain something to a child. "I don't think it can reach that far up, or at least not right now. Besides, even if it does, me cutting it might only cause it to fall into the ocean along with Luffy. You really don't think things through, do you?"

"Shut up, Mushroom-head! I'll push you into the ocean otherwise!"

"Mushroom-head? I believe I've found the king of insults..."

"Shut up or take the oars and row yourself!"

"Is 'shut up' all you can say?"

"... Shut up."

"Ah, your vocabulary is fascinating indeed."

A couple of new voices joined the friendly conversation. "H-Hey! You two! Please save us!"

Zoro turned his head towards the where the voices came from and spotted three pirate-looking guys ahead, floating aimlessly on the waves. "More people in trouble?" he muttered. Louder, he added, "I have no time to stop! You'll have to get on yourselves!"

The pirate-looking guys seemed bewildered at this, but managed to scramble upon the boat either way. However, they unsheathed their swords and pointed them at him once they had finished catching their breaths. "Yosh, now give us this boat. Do this and nobody gets hurt."

Law cast a glance over his shoulder uninterestedly at the probably-pirates-or-robbers. "Hoh, nice catch Zoro. You got yourself some slaves."

"Slaves?! Bastard, didn't you hea-" The presumably-pirates never got any further, for the green-haired swordsman beat them up quite good in that very second and soon made them row for him.

"See? Slaves", Law repeated, still watching the horizon where he had last seen the bird and Luffy. "Great, you made us lose sight of our empty-headed captain. I hope you're sorry. However", he added before the three pirate-looking guys began to shower him in a rain of apologies, "what were you doing out on the ocean like this?"

i...i

Zoro stopped the Buggy Pirates attacking the orange-haired girl in one swift movement. "Oi, oi, oi... All these people picking on one girl?"

Law snorted. "Don't be too harsh on them. Young girls are probably the only thing they can kill without much effort."

"Law! Zoro!" Luffy burst out happily from his cage. A bit annoyed, Law turned to face his captain. "Why are you in a cage, Luffy-ya? Is this some kind of weird joke of yours?"

"First he gets carried off by a bird, then he's in a cage... I'm following a very troublesome captain, aren't I?" Zoro muttered.

"Well, it was a lot of fun", their imprisoned captain responded carelessly.

The use of Zoro's name stirred up the Buggy Pirates. "Zoro?" "He can't mean Roronoa Zoro... can he?" "The Pirate Hunter?" "N-No way..."

"Woman!" Law called to the orange-haired girl, ignoring the Buggy Pirates.

She flinched as if he had startled her. "Y-Yes?"

"Are you hurt?" he asked. "Normally I wouldn't care, but it seems that you helped out my idiot captain so I guess I owe you that much."

"A-Ah... No, I'm fine, thanks", the girl replied, still looking like a startled deer.

Zoro nodded curtly and walked over to Luffy's cage while Law kept an eye on the pirates, studying their leader with a frown. 'So this is Buggy-ya those "slaves" told us about, huh... 15.000.000 for this guy? He looks pretty damn weak... But they did say that he had the power of a Devil's Fruit, so maybe some fun can be had here.'

"Wait just a moment", the leader of the bunch, the Buggy-guy, said. "If you're Roronoa Zoro, then are you here for my head?"

"Nope, not interested. I stopped being a bounty hunter a while ago", Zoro replied without as much as looking back at the one who had spoken to him.

"But I am interested", Buggy said in a stupid high-pitched voice. Luckily he returned to his normal voice as he continued, "If I kill you, I'll become even more famous."

"Don't even try", Zoro warned coldly. "You'll die."

"Eh? Really?" Buggy inquired, spinning a dagger on his fingers, clearly ready to fight.

Giving a contemptous "tch", Zoro turned around to face the blue-haired clown. "Words won't make you understand, huh. Well, don't blame me once this is over."

While Buggy's crew cheered things like "Take him down, captain" and "Kill him, captain Buggy!", Law backed off a bit to give the opponents room. As he passed his own crewmate, he gave him a short warning. "Be cautious. Those three did say he had the power of a Devil's Fruit."

"It'll be fine", Zoro shrugged casually. "He seems weak anyways."

"Weak or not; it could be a Logia", the doctor admonished. "If it is, this won't be easy."

"A Lo-what?"

"Ugh, forget I said anything..."

Law situated himself by Luffy's cage as the cheers rooting for Buggy grew louder around them and the two fighters prepared themselves for their battle. They took a few seconds to stare each other down, building up the tension I guess. The blue-haired clown licked his dagger and the green-haired swordsman placed one of his katana in his mouth.

With that done, they rushed forward, their killing intent sending sparks through the air. Or, well, from the swordsman at least. He was the only one capable of looking a bit threatening, after all. Jumping into the air, the clown shouted gleefully: "Die!" with his daggers stretched out. The swordsman just stood there, bracing himself for his attack. Once the clown was closing in on him, he leapt forward and cut through the pirate-clown's body. Law grinned. If the clown's arm, leg and torso was cut off then there would be a rain of blood in the next seconds. Plus it'd be easier to take his organs.

However, to his disappointment and bewilderment, that rain never came. All the more bewildering, his crew began to laugh almost hysterically. He stared at the perhaps-dead body and noted that the way it looked resembled how people looked once they'd been cut in his Room. 'Maybe...'

"Room." A blue orb appeared around the maybe-dead clown's body at Law's command as he raised his hands testingly. Zoro, Luffy, Buggy's pirates and even the girl were looking at him questionably. He ignored them and proceeded with his test. "Shambles." He placed the arm where the cut-off leg should've been, placed the leg on the arm and placed the torso on the side of the still-attached leg.

This did, of course, cause huge confusion between everyone around him, but it was only one reaction he was focusing on and that was the reaction of the now-absolutely-not-dead clown. Buggy had put himself together as he was originally, except for letting his torso and arm which he let fly in the air and was staring at Law with eyes that were about to pop out of his skull and with a jaw that was nearly touching the ground. "W-What the hell did you just do, bastard?!"

Questions arose from Buggy's side.

"Captain Buggy, why did you place your bodyparts so strangely just now?"

"Is that part of confusing him?"

"Why would you do that?"

"We're apparently both Devil's Fruit eaters", Buggy said, annoyed with his underlings.

Law narrowed his eyes and studied the half-flying clown. "What's that power of yours called?"

"The Bara Bara No Mi. I can't be killed by sword", Buggy replied, grinning smugly after recovering from the shock and regaining his confidence. "Clearly, my power is superior to yours, that Room-Shambles-no-mi or whatever. And that sword won't help you either. Give up, and maybe I'll kill you qui- LOOK AT ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU!"

Law looked up uninterestedly. "What? I am. I'm just looking at your feet instead of your repulsive face and that dumb plastic nose."

Of course, Buggy's face turned red in choked anger.

"Well that's a troublesome power indeed..." Zoro muttered, walking up to stand beside Law. "Got any ideas?"

"I've got a guess, but I'm not really sure..." Law murmured thoughtfully, holding his chin as he studied Buggy's feet with his eyes.

"Think you can come up with an idea, then?" prompted Zoro further.

"Can you?" retorted Law snidely.

"... I'll leave it to you..."

"That's what I thought."

"Pl... Plastic nose, you say...?!" Buggy repeated in a very choked, high-pitched voice. "Now you've done it, brat... I'll kill you... I'll kill you so painfully that LOOK AT ME, DAMN IT! WHY ARE MY FEET THAT INTERESTING ANYWAYS?!"

Sighing, Law tore his gaze from the red boots and looked directly at the pirate-clown's face. "Nothing important. I was just wondering why your feet stay on the ground while your torso is flying."

Buggy froze in shock and beads of sweat took form on his forehead. 'N-No way... He can't be figuring it out this quickly, can he?!'

"So I was wondering if, maybe, your feet can't fly and has to stay on the ground in order for the rest of your body to levitate", Law continued coolly. 'It can't be that easy, can it? No... wait... It is. Shit. This isn't fun at all.'

Many droplets of sweat were now running down in waterfalls from Buggy's face, smudging his make-up slightly. 'No way! He can't be figuring it out, he just can't!'

"And that's when I thought that if I say these thoughts out loud then maybe you'd you give the answer to me yourself", finished Law, raising his hands. "And what do you know, it seems that I was right. Tact." A smaller version of Room appeared around Buggy's legs, and with a flick of Law's finger they were lifted into the air, causing Buggy the Clown to fall over. Law sighed, letting the legs stand upside-down on the ground. "You couldn't even try to be subtle, could you? Weak physique and weak mentality is not a good combo."

"Whoah, awesome Law! I would've never figured that out so quickly!" Luffy blurted out from his cage.

"Of course you wouldn't", Law muttered, glaring at the way-to-easily-defeated clown-pirate who was currently trying to crawl towards him. "To think that I actually thought that some fun would be brought up from this..."

"Hmm... Ah! I've got an idea!" said Luffy gleefully. "Zoro! The cannon!"

The former bounty hunter glanced at the cannon, gave a grin, ran over to it and flipped it over, causing it to face the Buggy Pirates. Law quirked an eyebrow and kicked Buggy's parts to a certain spot, namely where the cannon was pointing and in front of the Buggy Pirates crew.

"Got a light?" Zoro asked the orange-haired girl who had been staring at the whole scene in shock and astonishment. She nodded shakily and handed over a box of matches she had grabbed from the ground. Zoro lit the fuse and the crew, plus the girl, covered their ears. The Buggy Pirate crew panicked but were apparently too stupid to get out of the way.

"WAIT JUST A MOMENT!" Buggy exclaimed, utterly horrified. "THE BUGGY BALL IS STILL IN THERE! STOP IT! STOOOOOOO-"

Boom.

Law blinked, trying to adjust his eyes to the normal light and clapped his hand over his ear, checking so that his ears hadn't gone deaf. There was a buzzing within them, but nothing too serious. He turned to the others. "Oi, you guys alive?"

"Yes", two of them replied. The third one was busy celebrating. Guess three times who.

"Yeah! It was a good idea, wasn't it, Law? You're not the only one who comes up with ideas!" Luffy cheered.

Law rolled his eyes. "Sure, sure. But me and Zoro-ya could've taken them out without an explosion, and now that you've blown them all up, how do you plan to get out of the cage without the key?"

There was a long silence. The one thing breaking it was the sound of Luffy's jaw hitting the floor of his cage and Zoro's palm hitting his own face. "Idiot..."

"It's okay, I have the key", the girl said as she handed over the key to the doctor who then opened the cage with a grateful nod to the girl. "I stole it earlier, so I could release you if the plan didn't go very well.

"You're a life-saver!" Luffy thanked. "Now, Law, could you take off these ropes too?"

The mushroom-hatted man didn't even look at his captain as he answered his request with a very blunt answer. "No, I think it will do you good to be bound for a while."

His captain's eyes widened in dismay. "WHAT?! Zoro, cut these ropes off!"

"Nah, I agree with Law. You should keep those on for a while", the second mate replied smugly.

"You guys are evil!" the captain pouted.

"Evil is a little harsh term, don't you think?" the first mate smirked.

"Are you this guy's captain?" the orange-head interrupted, directing the question to Law.

The trio of pirates stared back at the girl in slight bewilderment.

"If I'm his captain?" Law queried, answering the girl's question with a question. "I did say that he was my captain earlier, didn't I?"

"W-Well, you did and he did mention having a crew earlier, but... you seem more, um, captain-ish", the girl replied uncertainly.

"Got that right." Zoro poked Luffy's head with the hilt of his white katana. "Anyways, Luffy, who's this?"

"Oh, that's Nami, our navigator", Luffy responded simply.

"I never said I would be!" the girl called Nami shouted, obviously annoyed. Inhaling deeply and running a hand through her hair, she calmed herself and looked into Law's gray eyes. "Was that really the power of a Devil's Fruit you used there?"

Law nodded and pinched Luffy's cheek, stretching it out. "Yup, me and him have eaten Devil's Fruits. I'm an operation man and this guy's a rubber man."

Nami's bewilderment didn't seem to be soothed as her eyes grew even wider with disbelief. Zoro put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "I know how you feel. Just accept it and it'll be less painful."

"Those things are supposed to be myths, you know", Nami retorted breathlessly, clearly not digesting it just yet. "If you found a unicorn in the middle of a day, what would you do?

"Well they're not", Law said with a shrug as he actually did cut the ropes binding his captain. "How do you otherwise explain that I can cut people without killing them, or that this guy can stretch. Besides, if I found a unicorn, I wouldn't take time to question it. I would make sure it wasn't a hallucination and then I'd cut its belly ope-"

"That's enough Traffy Torao", Luffy interrupted, looking around hungrily. "We need to find some food! Those damn pirates had a party and wouldn't let me have any of it, those selfish bastards!"

Law rolled his eyes. "Nevermind the fact that they tried to kill you, it's the fact that they didn't feed you that makes you dislike them..." His words were heard by next to no one though as the straw-hatted teen spun around and ran down to the town. Law and Zoro exchanged a glance before following him. Casting another glance over his shoulder, Law called to Nami: "You coming, navigator-ya? Whether you join or not, those pirates might have nakama who'll want revenge or whatever. It's better if you stay with us."

For a moment, she looked as if she was going to scream just how much she didn't want to come with them at him, but the moment was only temporary. She shook off the expression and decided to accompany them with a smile that said very clearly "oh well, at least I'll have protection from enemies as long as I'm with them".

The doctor observed her behavior distantly. 'So, how long before she joins the crew officially?'

i...i

When they found Luffy outside a petstore, Law wasn't sure whether he should be surprised or irritated with the scene that was playing out in front of him.

Apparently, his captain had done something to annoy a small dog who was guarding the petstore and was now having his face almost bitten off by that small dog.

So before he decided how to react, he just stood there and processed the whole thing with Nami and Zoro following suit.

Once the whole thing was processed, Luffy had finally gotten the dog off of him and they were staring each other down, panting heavily. "Damn dog..."

Law blinked impassively and walked forward to his captain. He had finally decided his reaction. He simply wouldn't care anymore; he'd have to get used to anything if he was supposed to keep his mentality stable in the crew Luffy was creating. Was that keeping his mentality stable? Or was it just letting the little sanity he had left go? Ah, whatever. It's not like he needed it anyways. "Why were you fighting that dog, Luffy-ya?"

"He started it!" Luffy objected, pointing an accusing finger at the small white dog. "I was just checking whether he was dead or not!"

"By making it bite your face?" Zoro inquired, seemingly taking the same reaction as Law.

"You're a weird crew, aren't you?" Nami questioned, still unsure how to react.

"Nope, we're perfectly normal", Law replied sarcastically. "By the time he's gotten all members aboard I fear weird won't even be the beginning to describe it... Luffy-ya! Stop disturbing that dog already!"

"Hey, stop that! Don't pick on poor Shu-Shu you fiend!"

The pirates and the thief turned their heads towards the voice and were all a bit surprised to see an old man with white curly hair and large spectacles coming towards them. They had figured the town was completely abandoned, after all.

"Who are you, old man?" Law asked wryly.

The old man glared at them. "For your information, I'm the mayor of this town, Boodle. What are you four doing here and why are you picking on Shu-Shu?"

"He started i-" Luffy began but was interrupted his subordinates, if you could call them that.  
"We came here looking for this guy because he got carried off in the beak of a bird", Law explained.  
"And I think he's the one getting picked on by Shu-Shu", Zoro concluded, glancing at his captain who was still busy staring down the small dog.

Nami looked at the dog curiously and petted it lightly. "This dog's name is Shu-Shu, right? Why is he sitting outside the store? It's like he's frozen. Well, except for when he's trying to bite off that guy's face."

"He's protecting the store", Boodle answered.

The four of them all tilted their heads to the side. "Protecting it?"

Boodle nodded and told them Shu-Shu's story, about how he had protected the store ever since his beloved owner who had also owned the store died a few months back. "This store is Shu-Shu's treasure", Boodle finished. "He won't let it go so easily."

They all looked at the dog, (in Law's case, sort of) impressed with his determination. Shu-Shu finished eating the food Boodle had gotten for him and placed the bowl in front of the mayor.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake and a distant rumbling filled the air. Boodle turned tail and ran away with Nami following him, asking what he was so afraid of. The trio however stayed in spite of Boodle's warnings and patiently waited for the source of the rumbling and shaking. Soon an oversized lion came into view. An oversized, greenish lion with purple mane ridden by some sort of teddybear man.

You heard me.

"What... is that?" Zoro asked, staring at what was standing in front of him in disbelief.

Law quirked an eyebrow, staring at the thing as well with disbelief. "I have no idea. Do you think we're having hallucinations from drifting aimlessly on the sea for too long?"

"Are you Pirate Hunter Zoro?" the teddybear man asked, looking at Zoro.

"Who the hell are you? And why are you wearing that weird costume?" Luffy demanded before Zoro could answer.

"How rude! I am Beast Tamer Mohji and 'that weird costume' is my hair!" the teddybear man blurted out angrily.

Luffy blinked. "That's even weirder."

Law and Zoro nodded in agreement. "Looks pretty stupid too."

Mohji almost fell off his lion. When he recovered, his face was red with anger and he jumped off his lion with a commanding shout. "Richie! Kill them!"

The greenish lion lashed a massive paw and would've launched the trio into a building if they hadn't dodged to the side, letting the paw crash into a building without them.

Unfortunately, that building was Shu-Shu's shop. The little dog tried to stop the lion by jumping on its paw and biting down hard into its flesh, but a part of the shop was destroyed anyways. Shu-Shu was flung away but he got up and leapt at Richie once again only to get thrown off once more.  
Even to Law it was a pretty hard battle to watch.

"Zoro! Law! Let me fight him alone!" Luffy called, baring his teeth in anger at Richie.

"Why should I?" Law and Zoro retorted at the same time, both irritated at the request to stay out of a fight.

"Well, you two fought that Buggy-guy, so I should get to fight this guy!" their captain declared.

"That was hardly a fight", the doctor growled. He glanced at Mohji and raised both of his eyebrows unimpressedly. "He doesn't seem like he'll give much of a fight either, but-"

"Gomu Gomu No Screw!" Luffy's hands spun around multiple times resembling a screw while stretching towards the lion's head. Once he had grabbed it he lifted it up in the air, spinning the lion around in the meantime and slammed it into the ground.

"- and you already defeated the lion", the doctor finished, his voice gruff. As if on instinct, he turned to Mohji with narrowed eyes. "Then, that means I can at least kill this guy, can't I?"

Mohji was still in shock when his brain digested Law's words and he took a quick glance at the mushroom-hatted doctor and the green-haired swordsman who currently had a dark, murderous aura around them as they stared at him. An impassive yet bloodthirsty glow was within the apples of their eyes and the doctor smirked diabolically.  
It wasn't even sure if even half of all that was true; maybe Mohji was overreacting, but either way, they looked terrifying.  
Especially if you were a coward.  
And Mohji was a coward.  
It was a miracle that his pants stayed dry.

"W-Wait! I get it! You have a Devil's Fruit like Buggy, don't you? W-Well, I'll just leave now and we'll be even, ri-"

It didn't take long before Mohji had some nice, big, bleeding wounds covering his body. The duo of swordsmen sheathed their blades with one sigh each as they turned away from the unconscious, bleeding body.

"It's a shame... If we had a bigger ship and if I had any glass jars then I'd be able to take his precious organs..." Law lamented.

Zoro sweatdropped and looked a tad disgusted. "You're really creepy sometimes, you know that?"

"Wanting to take someone's organs is perfectly normal", replied Law in a matter-of-fact tone. "Why wouldn't you want to cut someone's stomach open, watch as their blood and guts spill out on the ground, dig your hands into it and grab a kidney or t-"

"Okay, okay, that's enough, I don't need to hear anymore", the green-haired man interrupted, looking a tad more disgusted. Law gave him a confused frown but shrugged and followed him over to Luffy who seemed to be in yet another staring contest with Shu-Shu. "Luffy, what are you doing? Leave the dog alone already."

Luffy didn't react. He just continued to stare into the dog's eyes until he finally opened his mouth and spoke with a smile to the dog. "You fought really bravely! That lion won't forget you in a long time."

Law's frown vanished and he walked forward to inspect the dog's injuries. The shop hadn't been quite as ruined as it would've been if Shu-Shu hadn't tried to stop Richie. A big bit of the corner on the left side and deep clawmarks on the walls, but not quite devastating. As for Shu-Shu himself, he wasn't in a quite so fortunate state. His ribs weren't broken but they had taken a hard hit (how the hell they hadn't been broken were a mystery to Law, maybe Richie hadn't used all his power when he attacked the dog) and he had a thin but steadily bleeding wound on his right side. His expression was still the same though - scowling stubbornly as he sat in front of his dear petstore. He glared furiously at the bleeding heaps that were called Mohji and Richie, as if he was ready to leap at them with his teeth bared anytime.

"Pretty bad-ass dog, I must say", Zoro commented with a lop-sided grin.

Law put on his trademark smirk as he made sure to stop the bleeding on the little dog. "I'll have to agree about that."

"And I didn't know that you had a soft side for bad-ass dogs. Refreshing from all that creepiness", added Zoro and quickly dodged a slash from Law's nodachi. Luffy just laughed at them.

Astonished gasps behind them caused them to turn their heads around. Boodle and Nami were gaping at them and the unconscious bodies of Mohji and Richie, clearly not believing what their eyes. Nami seemed a little less surprised though; after all, she had seen three Devil's Fruit users that day, what else could surprise her now?

"Y-You beat the Beast Tamer Mohji!" Boodle stuttered. "Who are you three, exactly?!"

Luffy's face brightened at the question. He didn't know exactly why, but Law had noticed that Luffy enjoyed introducing himself. Maybe because he liked to see people's expressions when he told them he was going to be King of Pirates. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy, the man who's going to become the Pirate King! Ah, that's right, I didn't introduce us just yet now did I?" he added, looking at Nami. He gestured with his hand to Zoro and Law. "This is Zoro, our swordsman. He was a bounty hunter before! And this is-"

"Tra-fal-gar Law", the doctor finished for him, grinding his teeth irritably. "The doctor of the crew. Also, Luffy-ya, I've told you I'll introduce myself. You'll bite your tongue one day if you continue like that."

"I'd like to introduce myself to others in the future too", Zoro inputted.

"Those three brats and Shu-Shu fought so bravely, while I, the mayor, can't do anything", Boodle growled, clenching his fists determinedly. Luffy, Nami and Zoro rushed forward to block his path and told him to 'wait a minute', but he continued nonetheless. "Forty years ago this place was just a field. All of us worked together to build houses and shops. That's how this town was born. Whether it's the citizens or another part of the town, they're all a treasure to me! I can't let them do as they want to this town!"

Law waved his hand loose-limbedly from where he was crouching on the ground. "Sure, sure, that's nice and all, but do you have any idea where the teddybear man went? If he went somewhere, then-"

He stopped himself when he noticed something in the corner of his eye and jumped backwards just as a column of light hit the spot where he had just sat, destroying everything in its path. They all recognized this column. It was the damn Buggy Ball, only this time it destroyed a nice amount of the town instead of its own crew.

"Even my house..." Boodle muttered as the light from the Buggy Ball disappeared and revealed the devastation it had left.

"Law! Are you okay?" Luffy called worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine", the tattooed man replied, holding his hat that had almost been blown off as he stared wide-eyed at the wreckage. "But that was almost too close..."

"This is unforgivable..." Boodle grumbled, his fists turning white from his constant fist-clenching. "They have no right to destroy our forty years of hard work. I'm the mayor! I will protect this town!" Nami grabbed him around the waist, trying desperately to stop him as he tried desperately to run away. "As a man, I must fight until death! Am I right, brat?"

Luffy's grin was as wide as ever. "That's right, old man!"

"Don't encourage him! It's too reckless!" Nami protested.

"I know it's reckless!" the mayor retorted, finally shaking himself free from her grip. He ran off, his spear held high. "Just you wait, Buggy the Clown!"

Nami gloated after him. "The mayor was... crying."

Luffy blinked in surprise. "Really? I didn't notice."

"Seems like it's getting crowded", Zoro commented.

"Looks like it", Luffy giggled. He looked up at Nami with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. I like that old man. I won't let him die!"

Shrugging, Zoro tied his black bandana around his head. "If you say so..."

Law chuckled and stood up, brushing some dust off his jeans. "I'm surrounded by crazy people wherever I go, aren't I? Mah, not much to do about it."

"Our destination is the Grand Line", Luffy said to Nami. "We're going to get that map back from those pirates! Be our nakama, Nami." He held out his hand towards her, expecting her to shake it.

She smirked and slapped his hand instead. "I will not become a pirate. But I will join you guys for the sake of both our goals."

Laughing triumphantly, Luffy turned to Law. "Haha! Now we can go to the Grand Line, right Law?"

"Ship and cook, idiot, ship and cook."

"Oooh, I forgot about the musician! We have to get a musician too!"

"Why would we need a musician?"

"Don't ever ask him things, Zoro-ya. There's no such thing as logic in his answers. You will be left even more confused, believe me. Ah, that goes for you too, Nami-ya."

"Wha-"

"Ever!"

i...i

Zoro's three swords slashed through Cabaji, the second mate of Buggy's crew. Their fight had been pretty easy for the green-haired swordsman and he had finished it in a strangely apathetic way. "I'm tired of your little circus tricks. I'm the man who's going to become the greatest swordsman in the world, I don't have to waste time on weaklings like you."

Luffy and Law tilted their heads to the side from where they were watching. "The greatest swordsman?" "That's your ambition, Zoro-ya?"

Their surprised expressions were quickly replaced by grins.  
"That's awesome, Zoro! Well, as the Pirate King, I'd be in a dilemma if you weren't!" Luffy exclaimed cheerfully. Law nodded in agreement and for a moment Zoro thought they were just going to be normal for once. Then their cheerful looks were replaced by evil grins.  
"Then, will you get a hat now?" they asked in a way that in Zoro's point of view was just pure evil.  
"GO TO HELL!"

The two let out a short, hearty laugh before turning to Buggy himself, competetive looks in their eyes.

"Well then, who should get to defeat that guy?" Law muttered.

"Me!" Luffy decided. "You got to fight him earlier!"

"And it was no fun", Law grumbled in response. "However, it's boring if I just got to cut up that Mohji-guy a bit. You got to beat that big lion, after all."

"That was no fun either!" his captain protested stubbornly. "Also, that clown-guy says that he's trying to become the Pirate King, but I am becoming the Pirate King! I should get to fight him!"

If Law didn't know Luffy as well as he did, he probably would've tried to argue more, but now he knew that if Luffy decided on something he was as immobile as a rock. Heck, as immobile as a mountain fit him better. So instead he let out a sigh and glared at Buggy the Clown. "If I get to just try something, then you can fight him all you want."

For a moment it looked like the straw-hatted teen was going to object but nodded and stepped back to let Law's little "experiment" take place. Law returned the nod and dashed at Buggy with his nodachi unsheathed.

"Hah! This guy is an idiot!" the clown mocked. "I told you, I can't be cut by sword!"

"Oh?" Law shoved his blade into and through Buggy's shoulder and turned it around in a painful three-sixty, watching with satisfaction as blood poured out. "But you said nothing about being stabbed. Seriously, just how easy is your power to figure out?"

With that said, he pierced the clown's other shoulder, the knees and a bit through the chest as the clown was stuck in a silent scream of agony. He knew this wouldn't exactly kill the blue-haired clown, but honestly he disliked killing those too weak to even stand a chance against him. They'd be better off living in the shame of losing rather than getting the honor of death. He couldn't take the goddamn clown's organs either so it pissed him off even more than usual.

"AH! Law! I told you I would beat him!" Luffy's voice blurted out indignantly.

"It would be a waste of time, Luffy-ya", Law replied indifferently as he sheathed his sword.

"But it was captain's orders!" the black-haired teen with the straw-hat persisted.

Law had to grit his teeth to keep his irritation at a minimum. "So? This was a lot faster. If your tiny brains clashed then it would take a lot longer, and you want to go to the Grand Line as soon as possible, right?"

To that, Luffy had no response. Even he could see that Law's way was much more effective than him spending time on reconstructing the clown's face and below-the-belt parts by punching and kicking him.

Zoro cocked an eyebrow. "While that's true, Law, shouldn't you listen to Luffy's orders? He is the captain, after all."

Law sighed. "I'm not a dog. If there's a better solution to what he suggests, we should take that instead, should we not?"

Still a bit sour, Luffy brushed off some dust off his pants and looked around. "We should go and look for Nami... she went off to steal the treasure and stuff... and after that... we'll drown Law in the sea a bit."

"'Liked to see you try."

"I will!"

"And then what will you do without a doctor?"

"I'll- ! ... Umm..."

"And without anyone who has brains and knowledge about the Grand Line, how will you survive?"

"Err..."

"And remember that I have my Ope Ope No Mi ability. What says I won't be able to drown you first?"

"..."

"And-"

"I get it! ... I won't drown you."

"Not like you could anyways."

"I could help you, Luffy."

"Thanks Zoro!"

"Tch. The chances that you'd drown me are even lower, Zoro-ya."

"What did you say?!"

"Ah, sorry. You. Weaker. Than. Me. Is that clearer, Zoro-ya?"

"You bastard...!"

"What are you three doing...?"

"Hi Nami~! Welcome back! Nothing unusual. Oh, that's a lot of gold! I can carry some of it if you like!"

"For some reason I'm beginning to reconsider my decision to join you guys..."

"Heeh... really? Why?"

"This time I'll gut you like a fish, bastard!"

"Do you even know how to gut someone? I thought you only slashed your swords around randomly and hoped they would hit."

"What was that?!"

"Really? That's the second time I have to repeat myself for you today, Zoro-ya."

"... No reason... No reason at all, Luffy..."

**Omake:**

Buggy Ball - Literally

"Light the fuse!" Zoro instructed Nami.

"No, wait just a moment!" Law objected.

His green-haired comrade frowned. "What is it? It better be important!"

"It is", he assured and ran over to the heap of Buggy's parts. There he picked up the parts, including the head, and continued to the cannon where he stuffed the seperation man inside. With an evil smirk, he moved out of the way and told Nami and Zoro "There. Now you can light the fuse."

An annoyed vein pulsed by Zoro's temple. "You really are evil, you know that?"

"Not evil, just a bit sadist", Law disagreed proudly.

"You're not supposed to be proud about that, Lemons", Zoro grumbled as he took the matches from Nami.

"'Lemons'? What the hell's up with that? Ah well, then you're Limes", Law shrugged off. With a tone that was a mix of enthusiasm and impatience, he added, "Now, just light the fuse and be done with it, will you?"

Finally Buggy processed the whole thing and he let his extremely panicked voice be heard. "NO, WAIT, WAIT, YOU AREN'T THIS CRUEL ARE YOU?! STOP IT, PLEASE, I BEG OF YOU, STOP IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-"

Boom.

Luckily, the Buggy Pirates had been too stupid to move so they all got caught in the explosion. Even though that just a moment ago they were having such a blast at their party. Hah. Hah. Hah.

Law stood up and blinked against the horizon, his hand shading his eyes. "Hmm... I wonder what his corpse would look like..."

"I really don't want to know", Zoro deadpanned.

"Huh. I'm surprised at just how slow you were. Can't you even light a fuse properly?"

"I would've done it sooner if you hadn't started a 'conversation', Lemons."

"Still don't get it, but okay, Limes."

"If you don't get it then why do you call me Limes?"

"'Cause you have green hair and you always carry the same sour expression. It makes more sense."

"You have that dumb yellow shirt, that's why. -OI! Why the hell did you slash at me just now?"

"Checking reflexes."

"That's the worst excuse ever!"

"It's not. However, whether you believe me or not, I could not care less."

"..."

"Hoh? No arguement there? Don't tell me you're admitting defeat already, Limes."

"...Shut up, Lemons."

"Your vocabulary never ceases to overwhelm me."

Meanwhile, Nami watched from what seemed to be very far away since everyone apparently had forgotten about their existence. _'What... are... these guys, exactly?'_

"They're funny, aren't they?" Luffy 'shishishi'-ed.

* * *

**AN: Victoryyyyy screeech! *Spongebob reference cough cough* Whew, at third chapter already? I hope you all enjoyed! Please review and thanks for reading! Also, about Law making an 'enemy' of Zoro, well, he hanged out with a band of bandits and an empty-headed teenager for three years so he has to screw around with ****_some _****new head, you know? XD Anyhow, thanks so much for reading again! See ya next chapter~! *scoots off* Peace out~**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: BATTLE-SCENES. Y U NO EASY TO WRITE?  
You know, I remember telling people like two months ago "oh yeah next chapter'll be out this month". You guys wanna know a secret? ****_This isn't "this" month. _****So sorry for the long wait, guys. This chapter is... Well, let's say I've been a nervwreck when writing it. I've rewritten lots of parts multiple times and it appears as though the increasing amount of followers (thank you all so much btw ;w;) makes a decreasing amount of my self-esteem. I kept on thinking "oh no this is too rushed" and "oh no this is too crappy" and sometimes when I read through I thought "well it isn't that bad" but when I stopped writing to do something with my life (haha good one) I thought it was total crap again. So I am deeply sorry if it isn't a joy to read, but at least know that I tried really hard to make this good. I just want to thank you all for your support and the incredible amount of faves, followers and reviews! You guys are awesome. Anyways, I sincererly hope you enjoy this chapter in spite of my never-ending angsting over it uwu;;  
Also sorry Mauritius, I changed some of the things you said I should do...  
Zane(OC of mine): She really just wanted a joke out of the way, and maybe satisfy her inner BL fangirl.  
Me: ... Why did I create such a douche? And the inner yaoi fangirl-thing is serious business! If I don't feed it little by little, it'll eat my soul! ... And that wasn't even part of the reason, bastard.**

Chapter 4  
~The King of Snipers~

"So", Nami began a bit reluctantly as she looked at the three men on the boat drifting alongside her own Buggy-boat, "what have you planned?"

The straw-hatted boy and the green-haired swordsman looked at her, slightly surprised at the question. "Planned?"

Sighing, Trafalgar Law heavily sat up as if the task of explaining things to his fellow crewmates was something he'd rather avoid. "She's asking what we have planned for the Grand Line. It is the greatest sea in the world, after all. We can't just stroll in there as we are now, believe me. Just getting there is hard, and the enemies that await over there are far stronger than any we've faced this far."

"You seem to know quite a bit about it", swordsman Zoro stated, cocking an eyebrow. "Have you been there?

"No. Just because most of the people here in East Blue see the Grand Line like some mysterious monster-sea doesn't mean that it's impossible to gain information from it", the doctor replied simply. "I knew some people who know a lot about the Grand Line, since, well, they've been there."

"Didn't Coby say people never come back from the Grand Line?" Luffy the straw-hat wearing teen interrupted, taking a bite from an apple.

Law snorted scornfully. "A dumb rumor. Marines and Yonkou enter and leave that place whenever they like."

The other three tilted their heads to the side. "Yonkou?"

Law buried his face deep into his palm. "Oh great... Let's just forget about that for the time being, okay? What's important is that we have to get a bigger ship and fix our lack-of-manpower-problem. The island we're heading to is inhabited, right Nami-ya?"

She nodded. "Yes. We should ask for a ship there, and look for some recruits. Perhaps a cook or a shipwright. If there's anyone there willing to join a pirate crew, that is..."

"Oh, and we need a bronze statue!" Luffy exclaimed happily, waving his arms in the air. "A big one! And a musician!"

"Why would we need that?" Zoro inquired, in spite of Law's warning of getting a dumb answer.

"Pirates love to sing", Luffy explained. "And we're getting a bronze statue because I want one!"

"I think it's more important to think about what kind of ship we should have and what kind of crewmates we need", Law said, glancing at the horizon. "I think I can see the island too, so it's better that we start talking about that instead of things you just 'want', Luffy. I say we get a submarine."

His crewmates frowned once again at him. "A submarine?"

Law nodded. "A yellow submarine. With a big laboratory where I can keep my experiments!"

Zoro grimaced. "Did you just openly announce that you plan on using us as experiments rather than treating our injuries...?"

"You're too suspicious, Limes", Law replied nonchalantly. "I'm pretty sure that I won't do any experiments on you or any future crewmates. As for our enemies, if we do get a submarine like that, there's a high possibility that their blood will stain the operation table."

"That's not even a bit less creepy", Zoro retorted while Nami tried to erase the mental images Law had unintentionally given her. Or perhaps it was mildly intentional.

"We're closing in on the island!" Luffy informed them gleefully.

The crew looked up to confirm what their captain had just said and indeed, they were almost at shore. A gritty slope was sandwiched between two steep cliffs looming high above the pebbly beach. Trees forming a forest were displayed on the top of those cliffs and a road probably leading to the village stretched from the top of the slope into the island.

Seemed nice enough.

They jumped onto the beach and looked around.

"No boats... Do you really think there's anyone around here who has a ship?" Law questioned doubtfully as his gaze wandered across the shore.

"Someone's got to have at least one ship, right?" Zoro said, thoughtfully looking at the cliffs. He pointed at some bushes on top of those cliffs. "There's someone over there, so maybe we can ask them."

The next moment dozens of pirate flags emerged from the bushes on the cliffs and a hail of supposedly bullets hammered the ground by Luffy's feet. Luffy managed to evade them by doing what resembled a tapdance as an obnoxious laughter filled the air. Their gazes fell on the peak of the cliffs above them to find out the source of the laughter.

"Leave now, Buggy Pirates! I am the great pirate fleet leader, Usopp, who is in charge of the security of this village!" a teenager possibly around Luffy's age with an extraordinarily long nose shouted. He was standing in front of one of the trees on the cliff with his arms crossed over his chest, looking down at them confidently. "I am also known as 'Captain', 'Captain Usopp'! It's best for you if you don't try to attack this village, because my 80 million followers will annihilate you!"

While Luffy was busy being stupidly impressed, Law and Nami raised one incredulous eyebrow each.

"There's no way 80 million men would fit on this little island without us seeing them", Law said in a patronizing tone. "And as far as I can see, you only have three little kids over there in the bushes. You don't really expect us to fight them, do you?"

Said three little kids let out terrified shrieks and ran off in fear, leaving their "captain" alone with the quatro of pirates.

Nami remained very skeptical and unimpressed with the long-nosed teen in front of them. "You're a liar, aren't you?"

"Aaah! I've been found out!" Captain Usopp yammered, doing some weird dance of despair. "This is bad planning! Bad planning indeed!"

"Haha! You're so funny!" Luffy laughed.

Usopp narrowed his eyes and brought up his slingshot, aiming it at Luffy threateningly. "Don't underestimate me! I am a man with high pride! They call me Usopp the Proud! It is true that I don't use pistols, but my skill with my slingshot is just as good as a pistol!"

Luffy bowed down his head slightly and pushed down his precious straw-hat a bit. "Since you mentioned pistols... Bet your life on it. It isn't some tool to scare people with."

Zoro and Law realized what he was doing and grinned simultaneously while turning their gazes to the long-nosed boy.

"The people in front of you are real pirates", Zoro said, revealing a bit of his katana's metallic surface. "Are you ready to risk fighting us?"

"Lies and games won't get you anywhere here", Law smirked, holding his usual if-he-comes-at-you-with-a-needle-you're-screwed demeanor.

It would appear to be a tad too much for Captain Usopp to handle and he fell to his knees, a tear visible in one of his beady eyes. "I knew it... A real pirate's speech is much more intimidating..."

The trio of males in the little group exchanged a glance and burst into laughter.

"I stole that line!" the captain of the crew confessed.

Usopp frowned in confusion. "Huh?"

The captain giggled before continuing. "You're Yasopp's son, aren't you?"

Law wondered how Usopp's skull didn't break like an eggshell when he fell head-first from the peak of the cliff to the gritty ground. Well, it wasn't a that big fall, so maybe he was just a bit disappointed. He wouldn't admit that out loud though - the others were so sensitive about stuff like that. Was it really that bad to want to see someone's skull crack open once in a while?

i...i

"So, you're looking for recruits and a big ship now?" Usopp queried a while after Luffy had told him the story about his (Usopp's) father Yasopp as they sat by the table in the restaurant in the village.

"Yup!" Luffy replied, tugging at a big chunk of meat.

"Do you know anyone who might have a big ship?" Nami asked.

"Well, there's a mansion not far away from this village up on the hill which belongs to a wealthy family", Usopp said, glancing out the window. "The ship is owned by that mansion's owner. The owner of the mansion is weak and sick girl though who always lies in bed. They say she got her sickness from depression after her parents died in other sicknesses, leaving her a large inheritance, a mansion and over ten servants. But even though she's rich, she can't get rid of her sorrow..."

Nami, who was a sane and understanding person, decided that they'd go look somewhere else for a ship before her crewmates said something unintentionally insensitive. The other three sat still, mentally groaning in disappointment. Luffy pouted and turned to Law. "Hey, Law, do you think you could cure her? You're a doctor after all."

"I'm a doctor, yes", Law repeated, a hinting towards irritation in his voice. "A doctor who specializes in surgery. She's sick because of depression, something I can't help. I'm not very good when dealing with people's troubled minds. No good at all, actually. In this case, I bet even you or Nose-ya could do better than me."

Luffy's pout grew more miserable. "So we really won't get our ship, huh..."

Usopp raised his index finger significantly. "You said you were looking for companions to join your crew too, right?"

Luffy nodded, brightening up a little. "Mh. Is there anyone who wants to join my crew?"

Usopp grinned confidently and pointed at himself with his thumb. "Let me be the captain, and I'll join you!"

The pirates hung their heads, disappointed. "Nevermind..."

"What kind of attitude is that!?" Usopp blurted out, offended. He glanced at the clock and stood up. "Ah, sorry. It's time. See ya! Good luck with finding a ship and companions! I know the owner of the restaurant quite well so you can order as much as you want!"

With that said, he left the little restaurant and the quatro.

"'It's time'... what does that mean?" Zoro wondered.

"Don't know. Time for lunch?" Luffy suggested.

"He just had lunch with us", Law pointed out.

"Hmm... then snacks?" Luffy proposed instead.

"I don't think it has anything to do with food, idiot", Nami grumbled irritably.

The door opened and the three boys who were Usopp's underlings or something stormed inside with their wooden swords raised in the air. "Usopp Pirate Group is here!"

"Who are they?" Luffy asked.

"I think it's those kids who were with Usopp earlier", Law noted.

"H-Hey pirates! What did you do to our captain Usopp?!" the three boys questioned loudly. "Give us back our captain!"

"Aaah! What delicious meat!" Luffy complimented the flesh of the dead and cooked animal he had just consumed, oblivious to the untimeliness of that compliment and petting his belly.

The boys froze in fear and stared wide-eyed at the quatro. "M-Meat? W-Was... the captain..."

Nami tried to stifle her giggles while Law and Zoro caught sight of an opportunity. Dark auras of evil surrounded them as they grinned devilishly.

"Your captain... was eaten", said Zoro, making sure to look like a maniac.

Law chuckled. "Don't be stupid. There's no way we would do something so barbaric." The boys calmed down a bit at this, but their blood ran cold as he continued. "We just finished cutting up his scrawny body... We can give you that obnoxiously long nose of his as a memento, if you like... I'm keeping the organs though, so don't think about taking them."

That hit the bullseye of fear on the kids. Luckily they hadn't drunk anything earlier, so their pants stayed dry. However, they were stuck with their blood turned to ice in their veins, tears running down their cheeks and their mouths gaping in silent screams.

For once, only Nami sweat-dropped instead of she and Zoro. "Don't you think that's a little over the top?"

Law rolled his eyes. "Fine. You may have one organ, if it's so important to you."

His female crewmate's sweat-drops multiplied. "No, that's not what I meant..."

"You're actually pretty funny sometimes, Law!" his captain and green-haired crewmate laughed.

The third mate could only stare at them in disbelief, wondering what kind of sense of humor dwelled within their minds.

i...i

Once the three boys had been convinced that Law was just kidding (if you could call it that; perhaps tormenting them for his own amusement fit better) they told them what Usopp had meant by 'it's time'.

"Wow! He's a great guy!" Luffy exclaimed.

"So to restore her spirits he's been going for a year to amuse her with made-up tales?" Nami smiled.

"Yup", the three boys confirmed.

"Then, the ojousama is feeling better, right?" Luffy questioned hopefully.

"Yup! All thanks to Captain!" the purple-haired boy of the trio, the one called Ninjin boasted.

"All right! That means we shall go to the mansion and ask for a ship!" Luffy declared enthusiastically.

"No! Didn't you just say you'd give it up?" Nami blurted out indignantly.

"He already left, Nami-ya", Law said as he rose from his seat to follow their captain who indeed had already left the restaurant. "He isn't a very good listener, in case you hadn't noticed."

"Since we can't stop him we'll follow him", Zoro said, clearly a bit amused by their captain's sudden change of mind.

Nami reluctantly followed them with a heavy exhale. "What have I gotten myself into..."

They went through the village with the three vegetable-look-alike kids leading the way to the hill where the mansion was. There they stopped in front of the gate.

"Good afternoon, please lend us a ship..." Luffy said a bit awkwardly to no one. After a few seconds of even more awkward silence he got tired of waiting and said "Let's just go inside..." as he carelessly climbed over the gate and jumped onto the other side.

"What's the point of that greeting?" Piiman, the boy with the dark green hair asked.

Law didn't even wait to question the fact that they were illegally trespassing which probably wouldn't work in their favor if they wanted a ship and just uttered "Room" to warp himself inside of the mansion's properties, causing the three boys to shriek in surprise.

"So you can warp, too", Zoro stated. "But only one person at the time? That's a bit lame."

"No, I'm pretty sure I could've warped you two and the vegetables as well, I just didn't feel like it", the fur-hatted doctor responded simply.

Zoro and Nami scowled bitterly. "Jerk."

Law's eyebrow twitched in irritation. "Get your own teleportation powers if it's so important."

The five people remaining on the other side climbed gruffly across the gate and went towards the mansion where Usopp was sitting by a tree and talking to a frail, pale-skinned blonde girl who was listening very intriguedly to whatever he was saying.

"Hello, ojousama!" Luffy greeted loudly to the girl. "You are the ojousama, right?"

The frail girl turned to Usopp with a questioning look. "Who are they?"

"Oh, they heard of my greatness and came a long way just to join my crew", Usopp lied, walking over to put an arm on Luffy's shoulder.

Luffy gave Usopp a frown. "No, that's not it. We came with a request for you!"

"A request for me?" Kaya interrupted, resting her arms on the frame of her window.

"Yeah, we need a big ship!" Luffy said, gesturing with his arms.

"What are you doing here?!" a sudden voice demanded.

The pirates, the Usopp Pirate Group and the frail girl turned their heads towards the source of the voice. A rather tall and slim man wearing in a black suit with two golden markings on it came walking towards them. He bore a stern expression on his face and walked with determined steps. "You can't just barge into the mansion like this!" he said once he had halted in front of them.

"Kurahadol, these people are-" the frail girl began, but the man stopped her.  
"You don't have to explain. I will ask about it later." He turned to intruders. "Please get out! Or is there something you need to say?"

"I want a ship..." Luffy tried with a big smile while Nami assured Law that the butler wasn't trying to order him around to keep him from rearrenging the other, but Kurahadol rejected him as soon as the words left his mouth.  
"No way."

While Zoro and Law patted the disappointed Luffy some-what comfortingly on his back, Kurahadol spotted Usopp when he was in the process of trying to sneak away. "You... You're Usopp-kun. I've heard rumors about you. The villagers talk about you all the time."

"That's right! You can call me Captain Usopp! Everyone calls me that", the long-nosed boy stated proudly.

"The guards said you were lurking around the gates..." Kurahadol continued without acknowledging the boy's words. "What do you want here?"

"Ahh... I heard that there's a mole inside the mansion!" the boy quickly lied. "So I wanted to see it for myself!"

The butler chuckled lightly. "Hahaha... I see you lie quite well. Well, that's no surprise since you're the son of a filthy pirate. But you had better stay away from ojousama!"

Usopp winced and scowled in anger. "Did you say filthy...?!"

"You and the ojousama belong to completely different worlds", Kurahadol went on. "Is it money you're looking for? Name your price."

It would seem that he crossed the line for the ojousama. "That's enough, Kurahadol! Apologize to Usopp-san right now!"

"There is no need for me to apologize to this uncivilized person!" her butler argued. "I'm just telling the truth!" He looked at Usopp with a pitiful look. "I feel sorry for you. You hate your father, don't you? Because he's a dumb treasure hunter who abandoned his family and village."

"I won't let you say another bad thing about my father!" Usopp growled, baring his teeth.

"Why are you so angry?" the butler asked, smirking mockingly. "You're not very smart, are you? You should've just told your usual lies... That you were not related by blood or that he was a travelling merchant..."

Snap. The sound of Usopp's restrained anger breaking loose was almost audible as he dashed forward and gave Kurahadol a good punch in the face, shocking his little underlings and female friend. "Shut up!"

Slowly, Kurahadol shakingly dragged himself into a sitting position. "Urgh... See... you're so violent! Like father, like son!"

"Shut up!" the long-nosed boy repeated, seething in anger. "I'm proud that my dad's a pirate! I'm proud that he's a brave warrior of the sea! You're right that I like to lie, but I'm proud of having a pirate's blood in me! I don't have to pretend that I'm not! I am the son of a pirate!"

The butler glared at the boy, adjusting his glasses with his palm. "Pirates are brave warriors of the sea? Don't make me laugh! Pirates are nothing but pathetic scoundrels!" He calmed himself a little bit and continued with a satisfied smirk that he only half-heartedly tried to hide. "However, the product of that barbarian is still you. Whenever you're upset, you use your strength to hit others", Kurahadol snarled. "After all, the only reason you are close to Kaya is her money. That is enough. Get out of here. This is not a place for a barbarian like you! Don't you ever come near this house again!"

Usopp snorted disdainfully and walked away. "You don't have to tell me that."

"Captain!" the Usopp Pirate Group blurted out in dismay. That dismay quickly turned to anger as they whipped around to face the butler. "You idiot! Our captain is not that kind of person! You are stupid! Very, very stupid!"

"Idiot!" Luffy agreed loudly and gained a light hit from Zoro on his head.  
"It's none of our business. Keep quiet."

"All of you! Get out!" Kurahadol was about to shout, but at the letter A Law turned on one foot and left due to his own interests. He did not want to stay so he would've left anyways. He was not about to make it look like he left simply because that butler told him to. Childish, perhaps, but it was either that or he killed the butler in a wonderfully brutal way.

i...i

Later, when they had left the mansion, Law, Nami, Zoro and the Usopp Pirate Group were situated just outside town by a small patch of fence.

"Well that was an incredibly rude butler", Law remarked, leaning on the fence. "It's not like the ship is his. A sick girl doesn't need a ship, does she?"

"That's why I said we should've gone somewhere else to look for a ship", Nami told him matter-of-factly. "As rude as he was, I'm sure he had his reasons. Anyways, where's Luffy and Usopp?"

"The Captain must be 'there'", Ninjin said. "At the coast."

"Yes, he goes there whenever he has to clear his mind", Piiman confirmed. "Do you want to go there?"

"No", the pirates replied. Nami blinked twice in slight surprise when she noticed something. "By the way, where's your other friend? The one with orange hair."

"Tamanegi?" Piiman questioned. "He always disappears."

"And comes back overreacting over something", Ninjin finished.

And, just as they said, Tamanegi came running while screaming "It's horrible! Danger! We're in trouble now! There's a weirdo walking backwards!" frantically.

"Liar", his friends decided when he halted in front of them.

"It's the truth! Look!" he defied, pointing accusingly at a figure coming towards them further down the road.

Indeed, there was a man who looked spookily a lot like a certain celebrity only a tad weirder, wore a cowboy-hat and and had one of those things pharaohs had on their chins that no one ever bothers to find out the proper name of on his chin. Turning to the boys and the pirates, he revealed to be wearing heart-shaped sunglasses as well. "Hey, who told you I'm a weirdo? I'm not weird. I'm just a regular hypnotist."

"A hypnotist?!" the boys exclaimed, impressed. "Can you show us some tricks?"

"Don't be stupid", the hypnotist retorted. "Why would I show my tricks to someone I don't know? You shouldn't show your tricks to someone you just met." In spite of that, he picked up a big, metallic ring which he held out in front of the boys on a string. "Listen! Look at this ring..."

The three pirates sweatdropped. "He's showing them anyways?"

Once he did perform the trick, however, not only the three boys fell asleep but himself as well, causing the pirates to become sort of annoyed with him. "Why the hell are you sleeping, too?!"

i...i

When Usopp had come running with a strange expression on his face with Luffy nowhere in sight, Law had asked the Usopp Pirate Group to lead them to the coast. At first, they did not see Luffy until Tamanegi spotted something on the beach. "There's something there!"

Law, Zoro and Nami looked at the pebbly beach below them from where they stood at the top of the cliffs. Down there lay a certain red-vested boy facedown with his behind in the air and his straw-hat on the ground.

"He can't have survived such a fall", Piiman said fearfully. "Poor Straw-Hat guy... This must be why Captain was running off in panic..."

The three pirates stayed quiet, not sure how to react. That was until Law spoke up. "So... does this mean I'm the captain?"

"Are you the devil?!"

"I'm kidding. It's not like a rubberman could die from that, either way", he assured them, rolling his eyes. "He's probably asleep. Let's just go down there and wake him up." Once that was said, the small band of pirates plus the pretending-to-be-pirates made their way down the slope and went up to the unconscious rubberman.

And, as Law had suspected, a loud snoring came from the teen. Not wanting to wait for him to wake up normally, Nami tried prodding him awake. "Luffy, wake up."

Luffy's eyes instantly opened and he sat up with drool streaming down from his mouth. "Huh? Breakfast? Meat?"

His first mate's lips curled downwards in a disgusted grimace and he pushed Luffy's head further away with the nodachi's hilt. "Stop drooling. We might give you meat if you explain why you were sleeping here."

"Sleeping? Last thing I remember was- Oh right!" Luffy widened his eyes in realization. "Right, right! You need to hear this. The ojousama and the village are in danger!"

He explained what he had heard when listening to Kurahadol and a weird guy who the others guessed was the weird hypnotist they had met earlier. It turned out that Kurahadol was in fact a pirate called Kuro and that he had a plan to kill Kaya and take all her properties.

"That's a horrible plan..." Nami scowled, being reminded of just how despicable pirates are.

Law quirked an eyebrow. "Really? I think it's quite good. Not really complex perhaps, but other than that it's pretty good."

"She meant that it's a horrible plan because it's cruel, idiot mushroom", Zoro told him.

Luffy's face got a serious look all of the sudden. "That's not important right now. What's important is that Usopp must've gone and warned the village by now, so we need to hurry and buy some food before the butcher runs away too!"

i...i

As the four pirates went towards town again to meet up with Usopp (and maybe buy food before the butcher ran away), Law was surprised to hear him confessing to lie about the whole Kurahadol being a pirate-thing. Or, well, "confess". The vegetable-kids, in spite of knowing the long-nosed boy longer than they had, bought the story and stormed off, disappointed in their "captain".

The Luffy pirates, however, stayed with Usopp and went to the coast where Luffy had fallen asleep earlier. Law fixed the wound that the long-nosed boy had gained from a gun. It was a pretty painful process for the boy, though, and many complaints came from him.

"Ow!" he yowled as Law fixed the wound. "Can't you be a bit more gentle? I've never been shot before..."

"Too bad", the pirate doctor said impassively. "It's either this or you leave it open and filthy. More importantly, why did you lie?"

Usopp looked down, fixing his gaze at his shoes. "Because I'm a liar, no one will believe my story. I tried to warn everyone, but they think it's a lie. They think tomorrow will be like any other day. So I will wait for them here and make that happen. As a liar, it's my duty to make sure my lies stay lies."

Law quirked an eyebrow. That was possibly the most strangely noble thing he'd heard.

"I was chased by the villagers..." Usopp continued, gripping his now-bandaged arm. "I was even shot... But I love this village and I want to protect everyone... Otherwise... All of them will be killed without knowing anything... I can't stand it."

Zoro grinned. "Never thought you were that kind of guy. Ditching your friends so you could fight off the enemy by yourself."

"Let me get this straight - all treasure will be mine", Nami warned.

"Yosh, we'll lend you a hand", Luffy decided.

"Sounds like a good way to kill time", Law smirked.

"Y-You guys... are willing to fight with me?" Usopp sniffled, tears running down from his eyes. "Why?"

"Because you're outnumbered", Luffy replied.

"If you're scared, you can reconsider", Zoro added.

This caused Usopp to jump to his feet and wipe away his tears. "Me? Scared?! It doesn't matter how many they are, it's fine by me! I'm captain Usopp! I have the blood of a courageous warrior of the sea in my veins!" He stopped himself and looked down at his viciously trembling knees. Frustrated with himself, he desperately began to hit them while repeating the words "Stop shaking, damn it!". With the realization that his fear was revealed, he looked up defiantly at the pirates. "What are you looking at?! They're captain Kuro's pirate fleet! Of course I'm scared! But I won't accept anyone's sympathy! Just go away!"

Law's gray eyes narrowed into slits as he glared at the long-nosed liar. "Sympathy? Don't insult me. I think you should've realized that I'm not one to be sympathetic."

"We're not sympathizing, either", Zoro agreed. "We're rather commending you for having courage."

"Do you really think we would risk our lives because of sympathy?" Luffy put in.

Tears filled Usopp's eyes once more. "Damn... You guys..."

i...i

"So, they're going to attack from the coast, right?" Law said as they repeated the pirates' plan.

Usopp nodded. "Mh. This is the only way into the village, after all."

"Did they specifically mention this coast?" Law questioned further. "We have our boats at another coast like this, remember?"

"I... did not think of that", Usopp said, baffled.

Nami let out a short shriek of worry. "I have my treasure there!"

Law sighed, knowing that it would be up to him to come up with a plan. "So we don't know which coast they're going to attack from. Well, shouldn't be much of a problem. We'll split up. Since we can't really communicate from two different sides of the island I suggest we get a signal ready for each side. Nose-ya, do you have anything we could use?"

"I have fireworks. Do you think that'll work?" Usopp said, picking up a couple of flares from his bag.

The doctor nodded. "That should be fine. Now, how should we split up?"

"I'll go to the northern coast", Nami decided. "I won't let them touch my treasure!"

"I can go there, too", Luffy offered.

"I'll go with you and Nami", Usopp replied.

"I can stay here", Zoro added.

"Then I'll have to stay here, too, then", Law decided slightly reluctantly, exchanging a glare with the swordsman.

"What are you guys good at, by the way?" asked Usopp.

"Slicing!" (Zoro)

"Stretching!" (Luffy)

"Stealing!" (Nami)

"Dissecting." (Law)

"Hiding!" (Usopp)

"You'll be fighting too!" three of four pirates shouted as they took stranglehold on the long-nosed boy while the fourth one merely stood some feet away and sweat-dropped.

Once the long-nosed boy assured the pirates that he'd be fighting as well, he got some more useful equipment, namely some barrels of oil. "If we spill this out on the slopes, they won't be able to get up. This is good for me since I'm a long-range fighter."

"Oooh, nice plan!" Luffy said admiringly. "You're just as smart as Law!"

One of Law's knitted eyebrows twitched slightly, offended. "I really don't want to be put on the same level of smarts as someone who tried to fool us into thinking that he had 80 million followers..."

"Of course! I have a lot of confidence in myself!" Usopp said, crossing his arms over his chest and either ignoring or not hearing Law's comment.

"The sun will be coming up soon, so we better hurry to our coasts", Zoro alerted.

At that, they parted ways to prepare themselves for battle.

i...i

Sunlight climbed its way upon the sea and Law grabbed his nodachi and got to his feet. "Sun's up. They should be coming soon."

"I know", Zoro replied. "But it doesn't look like they're coming. Do you think they're at the other coast?"

"Possibly", said Law. "We'll have to wait for the signal though and hope that there is some fun to be had."

"You're right about that. Oh yeah, by the way Lemons, where is that northern coast?" Zoro asked.

Lemons cocked an eyebrow with a sarcastic look on his face. "I don't know, north, maybe?"

What happened next caused Law to question Zoro's intelligence for all eternity. Namely, he frowned and looked up. "How the hell will we get there?"

Law's reaction to this was basically the same as his reaction to how Luffy sees alliances in canon.

Zoro noticed this and frowned. "What?"

The doctor was silent for a moment. "... You're serious?"

"Serious about what? I'm always serious."

"You think... north and up are the same thing?"

"Well, they are, aren't they?"

"Good grief..."

"What?!"

i...i

"Roronoa-ya, you're going the wrong way", Law informed Zoro for possibly the hundredth time. His upcoming headache was souring his mood and had stopped him from using the nickname for his fellow swordsman about a minute ago. The signal had been fired several minutes ago and yet they were getting nowhere thanks to a certain swordsman's sense of direction. Or, rather, lack of it.

"Your directions were confusing!" Zoro snapped, whirling around to go (what he thought was) the correct way.

"How is 'continue straight forward' confusing?" Law queried, not even caring enough to be annoyed anymore. That, of course, did not mean he couldn't take his time to insult the green-head. "Do you want me to hold your hand? Maybe then we'll get there before Luffy whipes the sun goes down again."

"Shut up, idiot mushroom! I know where I'm going!" was the green-head's retort.

"Oh, great", the doctor responded, being, unneeded to say, sarcastic as hell. "If what you're saying is true, then explain why you're going back the way we came."

From then on Zoro decided it was best that he followed his crewmate closely. Just this once.

i...i

While that was going on, Usopp had held back the Kuroneko pirates a long time with his great sniping skills and when they had managed to get closer, Luffy had beat them all down again.

"They're all pushed into a corner! Well done, Luffy!" Nami cheered, standing protectively over her treasures.

Usopp was staring baffled and bewildered at the straw-hatted teen. "You're this strong...?"

"Of course I am!" Luffy stated proudly. The sound of incoming running footsteps caused him look back and his face immediately brightened. "Law! Zoro! Welcome back!"

The next moment skidded said teens to a halt beside them. "Yo. How's it going?"

"Well, I already beat down all of them, but that weirdo is doing something weird with that ring", Luffy reported dutifully.

Law cast a glance at the weirdo, namely Jango the hypnotist, and instantly got an idea. "Luffy, look at that ring."

Luffy quirked an eyebrow. "Why?"

"It will distort your mind to its will and..." The doctor trailed off when he noticed his captain's blank expression and decided he should change his manner of speaking. "What I'm trying to say is that it's a mystery ring that will lend you mystical powers."

"Really?! Awesome!" Luffy exclaimed and eagerly fixed his eyes on the ring.

"Look at this ring, men", the hypnotist said. "When I say One, Two, Jango, you will become stronger... all your injuries will be healed and you will become stronger and stronger."

"Hypnotizing them into getting stronger... that's crazy!" Nami said. That was when she realized something and turned to the doctor with a horrified face. "Wait a minute. You just told Luffy to look at the ring... you don't mean..."

The doctor just smirked. "It's just a little experiment."

"One... Two... Jango!"

It was quiet for a moment. Then the air exploded with the roars of the Kuroneko pirates. One of them wanted to show their new-found strength and smashed his hand into the cliff beside him, making it crumble with ease.

"They can destroy the whole cliff with just one punch?!" Zoro blurted out, his eyes nearly popping out of his skull. "You gotta be kidding me!"

Law on the other hand wasn't in particular impressed with their strength, he was more focused on the whole hypnotizing-thing. Law had seen pretty messed up stuff, after all, so that could be the reason why he wasn't easily impressed. "Hoh... how interesting. I wonder if it's the belief that they're stronger or if their bodies are simply forced into it. In that case it'll probably put a strain on them..."

"Whatever... Nami, Usopp! You stay back and we'll take care of it", Zoro ordered, putting his white katana in his mouth. "Hey, Luffy!"

No answer. Zoro frowned. "Luffy?"

Now there was an answer. It was a loud battlecry sounding like "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!". In other words, not exactly the answer Zoro would've wanted. "You're hypnotized too?!"

Law's smirk grew wider. "Ah, it worked."

"This isn't the time for you to be all 'Ah, it worked'!" Zoro snapped irritably. "Why did you tell him to get hypnotized? If you say it was an experiment then I will cut you down on the spot!"

"What if I say it was for science, then?" the doctor asked, his voice void of seriousness and filled with only amusement. "Don't deny it, this will be interesting to see."

As always, Law was right. Luffy charged forward through the oiled ground (while only almost slipping multiple times) and attacked the pirates with a storm of punches. Even in their fit of rage and thirst for battle they were frightened by the boy's monstrous strength and cowered in fear of him to the point that when he ran at them once more they fled to their ship. To everyone's surprise, however, ran Luffy straight past them and headed straight to the stem of the ship. There, he grasped it and began tearing it away from the rest of the ship.

"Does he intend to destroy the ship?" the pirates murmured, getting ready to flee again.

Finally, he broke the stem off the ship and turned his head around to glare at the pirates with narrowed, rolled-back eyes. He let out another battlecry and staggered towards them with the stem still in his grasp. Realization and a tad more fear struck the pirates. "No... he wants to whack us with it! Captain Jango! Do something!"

The hypnotist Jango quickly picked up his metallic ring and started to swing it from side to side. "One Two Jango and you'll be asleep! One! Two! Jango!"

Obediently following the hypnotic orders fell Luffy to the ground, snoring peacefully while the stem tumbled down over him and some pirates who weren't fast enough to get out of the way before it was too late.

"Well, I say my experiment was a success and my hypothesis was correct", Law decided after a moment of awkward silence.

"As long as he isn't dead, that is", Zoro commented, trying to hide his grin that had emerged from the scene he had just witnessed.

"Wait, wait, wait, how did his arms stretch like that just now?" Usopp asked, bewildered. "No normal person can do that! I was going to ask earlier, but then you two came."

"Of course no normal person can do that", Law retorted irritably. "That should be obvious. He's a rubberman, a Devil's Fruit user."

"Devil's Fruit...? Aren't they supposed to be myths?" Usopp inquired.

Law didn't answer, for a couple of new voices joined in. "Hey, look, Buchi! Our ship's stem has disappeared!" "You're right! Where is it?"

"There's more people on the ship..." Zoro murmured, unintentionally mimicking Law by resting his katana on his shoulder.

One of the Kuroneko pirates threw his head back and laughed, even though he was lying on the ground with severe injuries from Luffy's punches. Narrowing his stormy gray eyes into slits, Law glared at him and waited for him to speak. His words were surprisingly confident for a beaten man. "Hahahaha... you'll die..."

"Come down here! Nyaban Brothers!" Jango yelled.

Upon hearing this, two figures jumped down from the ship and Law and Zoro tensed to see whatever kind of creatures they were.

The figures came into light, revealing themselves to the crowd outisde.

They were two men, a rather scrawny hunchback with green hair in weird curls and a rather fat man with a dumb appearance who wasn't even wearing a shirt.

Oh, and they were both dressed up like cats.

'Fucking East Blue', Law cursed underneath his breath.

"Sham, Buchi, I need you to take care of these people", Jango instructed. "We need to get past this slope no matter what. Can you take care of them?"

The reaction he got was not what the Luffy Pirates were expecting. Sham and Buchi immediately began to make up panicked excuses, saying that the pirates were too strong for them and that their job was just to protect the ship.

"Aren't they supposed to be their trump cards?" Usopp questioned. "They look like they're about to jump out of their skins..."

Jango shouted at Sham to go and attack them, and Sham obeyed with tears in his eyes.

"They sent that weakling to fight us?" Nami muttered. "What are they thinking?"

"Be prepared!" Sham shouted, which sounded more like a plea to spare his life rather than a threat. "I will cut you all into pieces!"

"If you come any closer, I'll kill you!" Zoro warned, flustered by the situation and therefore missed an incredolous glance from his fur-hatted crewmate.

Sham jumped high into the air to avoid getting caught in the oil and Zoro noticed a sudden confident smirk spread across the cat-man's face. "If you can kill me, that is." Zoro managed to block a surprisingly powerful attack from the cat-man's claws with his katana just in time to stop them from reaching his chest. He pushed Sham off of him so the skinny man fell into the oil, but the skinny man gracefully slid down onto dry ground and got his footing back. "Heh, you're stronger than you look."

"He's not weak?!" Usopp exclaimed, too surprised for Law's liking.

"Seriously? You all bought that?" the dark doctor groaned irritably. He then blinked in surprise as he noticed something different with his fellow swordsman. "Oi, Limes. I think he stole your swords."

"What? Me? As if I'd do such a terrible thing like stealing..." Sham purred and licked his gloved hand, to which Law grimaced and muttered 'fucking East Blue' under his breath again.

"Return my swords now!" Zoro demanded.

"Return?" Sham repeated, playing dumb. "Your sword is in your hand, right? I don't see why I should return them to you."

Law huffed, annoyed with Sham's act and the fact that Zoro had just asked the enemy to return his swords instead of taking action like he should've done, and raised his hand, letting a blue sphere surrond him, Zoro and Sham. The skinny cat-costume-wearing man was cut into pieces and the two swords were teleported into Law's hands and then thrown into their green-haired owner's arms. "There. Be less careless next time, will you?"

"Don't throw my swords like that!" his fellow swordsman shot back.

"You're welcome, no problem, Limes." Adding some pretty foul-mouthed insults and a promise that the green-haired swordsman would be missing some bodyparts in a near future only audible within his mind, Trafalgar raised his index finger and the oil on the ground was moved out of the way. "They'll just jump over it anyways and it's distracting if we're supposed to fight them."

"What did you just do?!" the Kuroneko Pirates blurted out, staring wide-eyed at the dark doctor while Buchi rushed forward, dragged Sham's parts away from Law and put him back together.

"So... one each", Zoro murmured through gritted teeth.

"So it would seem", Law replied. "A nice warm-up before their Captain Kuro comes. I'm guessing he wouldn't be happy about them not doing the job that was assigned to them."

"Which means we'll have to kill you as quickly as possible so that does not happen!" Buchi snarled, rushing forward and jumping into the air. "Cat... STOMP!" His body crashed down feet first and broke the ground where Zoro and Law had stood a moment ago before they jumped out of the way.

"The ground broke!" Usopp and Nami burst out, horrified.

"If I got hit by that, it'd break all my bones..." Zoro muttered.

"Indeed you would", Law stated calmly, a hand on his hat to keep it from flying off from the small blastwave that had erupted from Buchi's attack. A movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he blocked an attack from Sham just in time before his claws reached his chest. With next to no effort at all, he pushed the darkly green-haired cat-man off of him and summoned a swirl in his free hand. However, the cat-man appeared to have realized that his power needed concentration and attacked him again before he could summon a full room. That or he really just panicked. Well, with or without his Devil's Fruit ability, Law still was a swordsman and a powerful one at that so he soon easily defeated the cat-man.

In the meantime Zoro was finishing off Buchi with only a little effort. "Heh... After you did that stomp thing I actually thought you'd be more of a challenge."

Suddenly, just as Law and Zoro were about to move on to the weird hypnotist, Jango flinched and began to tremble violently. "T-This feeling...!"

"Ca... Captain Kuro", the rest of the crew said breathlessly. "We're gonna die."

Zoro, Law, Usopp and Nami all followed their gazes and looked at the one man standing on top of the slope. They all either widened or narrowed their eyes when they saw who it was. "What the hell is this, Jango..." the cold voice of Captain Kuro said slowly. "I come here and find you all beaten to the ground? By kids? It's far past dawn! What the hell are you doing?! Don't tell me you actually have been stopped by these brats! Have the Kuroneko Pirates become a bunch of weaklings?"

"B-B-But, Captain Kuro, you said they wouldn't be any problem!" Jango protested desperately.

A groan came from Buchi's direction and the two swordsmen of the Luffy Pirates turned to see the fat cat-man drag himself towards Jango. It looked as if he was offended at being called weak, but since he was cut and barely staying conscious, he didn't have much of an arguement against what Captain Kuro had said.

"What's this... Limes, didn't you finish him off?" Law asked.

"It's probably because of his fat..." Zoro muttered.

"Don't worry, Captain Kuro, I'll get rid of them soon..." the fat cat-man panted. "Captain Jango! H... Hypnotize me into getting stronger!"

"I'll give you five minutes", Kuro promised after some hesitation. "If you don't manage to defeat them within five minutes, I'll kill everyone here with my own hands."

"Don't bother", Zoro said. "I'll defeat you before that time runs out." He prepared to use his special technique and rushed forward to the man formerly known as a butler. "Oni... giri!"

However, to everyone's surprise, he cut through only thin air as Kuro had disappeared and reappeared some meters behind him. Zoro widened his eyes. "What...?!"

Law frowned. "This technique... Roronoa-ya! Go take care of the fat cat-man instead. He'll be a nuisance. I'll take care of this guy."

"What did he just do?" Zoro questioned, glaring at the pirate captain. "What are those weapons?"

"Not sure, but the technique seems like a slower version of Soru", Law replied, his frown growing deeper as not-too-fond memories crawled their way to his mind. A swirl appeared under his left hand which quickly expanded into a blue sphere surrounding him and Kuro. "As for his weapons, that's not important is it?"

"True... You sure you can handle him?" Zoro inquired, not bothering to ask about 'Soru' since it wasn't really the time for those kind of questions.

"Whether I can or not is unimportant. Now, aren't you supposed to be taking care of the fat cat-man?"

"Since when did you get to order me around?"

"Just go and do what I told you to do, will you? It's your own fault for not finishing him off properly. Is being ordered to finish someone off really that bad, anyways?"

"Fine, fine..."

"Good. Ah, but if you ever try to give me an order than your bodyparts will definitely be mysteriously misplaced."

"If you can."

"There's no question about that."

While their little argument was settled, Kuro calmly pushed up his glasses using the palm of his hand (surprise surprise) and observed Law's Room. "What's this supposed to be?"

"I'm sure you'll understand soon enough", Law simply said, unsheathed his nodachi and slashed through the air. Kuro, already alarmed by the sphere, used his Stealth Foot just in time before he was cut into pieces like Sham had been earlier. However, left in the room lay a lonely right arm dismembered into four different pieces - shoulder, elbow, hand plus wrist and upper arm. On the hand was a fuzzy glove with smaller katanas attached to each fingertip.

A bit dismayed at the loss of his right arm, Kuro glared at Law. "I see... so you have the power of a Devil's Fruit. I thought those things were myths."

"Well, the sea is a mysterious place", the younger pirate replied, sort of tired of hearing 'I thought Devil's Fruits were myths' whenever he or Luffy revealed the fact that they had indeed eaten two of the many Devil's Fruits. He spun his nodachi on his hand and expanded the Room to its current biggest form. It was nothing compared to how it would look after two years of training, but it covered around six-seven meters. I think. Because it's Law it's hard to tell. "But it isn't the time to be thinking about that, is it?"

"You're absolutely right", Kuro agreed, disappearing and reappearing behind the pirate doctor with his only hand raised, "and I hope you don't get cocky just because you have this power." He struck down his Cat Claws, intending to sink into Law's flesh but the five katanas cut through only air and Law had moved to the side and was about to cut him. Kuro noticed this and got out of the way, but the blade cut a nice little gash running from his left temple to his jaw.

Brushing off the blood with his only wrist Kuro observed Law who was in the middle of the Room while he was some meters away from it. "I see... so you can only dismember me while I'm inside of that sphere. So while you're inside of that sphere, if I'm not quick, I won't be able to attack you without taking the risk of being cut. So..."

He was cut off by a loud crackling sounding like earth breaking. Their attentions were drawn towards Buchi's and Zoro's fight where Buchi had used his powered-up Cat Stomp which caused the cliffs and ground to crumble.

"He isn't aware of his own strength..." Kuro muttered and cast a glance Law's way, raising an eyebrow in an emotion that resembled surprise. "You don't seem very impressed by this, unlike your crewmates."

Law didn't answer, merely glancing back and raising his hand to create a new Room.

Kuro used Stealth Foot to get in front of Law, giving him less than a heartbeat to dodge the Cat Claws and an opportunity to cut him in half but unfortunately missed due to Kuro using Stealth Foot yet again, this time reappearing behind him which gave Law even less time to react. Switching places with himself and a part of the broken ground saved him from any vital wounds, but the Cat Claws had left three deep, bleeding marks on his right arm.

Law let a small breath out, glancing at the three wounds covering his upper right arm. "Whew... He's a bit tougher than I thought. His speed's getting really annoying."

"This isn't the time to ramble with yourself, is it?" Kuro pointed out, pulling his claws out of the piece of broken ground, careful not to break them. "If you're going to talk, at least use your words wisely. They will, after all, be your last wo-"

A rock was flung up from the ground and hit Kuro hard on the chin, causing him to bite his tongue due to Law flicking his index finger and reminding him that he was still on the "operating table". This threw the man formerly known as a butler into a subtle rage and he dashed forward in his superhuman speedy fashion to once again give Law less than a heartbeat to make sure his head was not pierced by the Cat Claws and block them with his own blade.

"Kurahadol!" shrieked a familiar female voice, disrupting all of fighters' concentration and drawing their gazes backwards. On the top of the slope stood miss Kaya, clad in a brown coat and looking frailer than ever. "Kurahadol! Stop this at once!"

Kuro showed surprise at seeing his former mistress and questioned her presence there. The Kuroneko pirates were relieved with the realization that they wouldn't have to go to the village to finish the job they'd been assigned.

Kaya bit her lip and it was visible that she gathered courage to speak up. "I heard everything from Merry. Please stop this, Kurahadol. I'll give you whatever you want, as long as you leave the village and everyone here unharmed."

"I'm sorry, miss Kaya, but that I cannot do", Kuro replied sternly. "You misunderstand me. I want your money, of course, but I also want a peaceful life. The villagers here have trusted me for three years and I do not wish to lose this peace. It's become part of my life and I want to keep it. My plan will succeed when I acquire both peace and your wealth."

"K-Kaya! What are you doing here?!" Usopp shouted. "Run away! He won't stop even if you talk to him! He is not the caretaker you used to know!"

"Usopp-san, you're alright... thank goodness", Kaya said breathlessly. Then she collected herself and put on a brave face. "I can't! You're fighting, aren't you? Even though we treated you so badly... You still fought for us. I can't run away now..." She picked up a gun from her pocket (or wherever the hell she held that thing) and aimed it straight at Kuro. "Leave this village now, or I'll shoot!"

"You've become stronger these three years", Kuro remarked as a friendly look entered his eyes. "Do you remember? Since your parents' passed away, we've been together everyday. We were sailing together. We were going to the town and went shopping together. When you were sick I was the one who took care of you. We were happy and sad together. I've tried very hard to do everything for you." The friendly look vanished and his face darkened. "Do you have any idea how humiliating it was? I've spent three years doing these stupid things. Everything I have done for you, I have done calming myself with the thought that I would one day get to kill you."

Usopp bared his teeth at Kuro. "You...!" The long-nosed boy got up and dashed at the former butler with his fist prepared for a punch. He, however, ducked Usopp's punch and prepared to slice him up real good. "I do owe you for that punch yesterday..."

Suddenly, a fist made of rubber embedded itself into Kuro's face and knocked him over. "If you hated it so much, I'll give you one hundred more!"

While Kuro had spoken to Kaya, Nami had rushed over to Luffy (and tripped over Jango with her bo staff(1)) and woken him up by stepping on his face. He had awaken just in time to give Kuro a damn good punch to the face and prevent him from giving Usopp five nice wounds.

The Kuroneko Pirates started yelling in confusion because somehow, even though they had just been beaten by the same stretching fists they hadn't noticed the fact that they had been beaten by the same stretching fists. By that I mean that they somehow didn't notice that Luffy's arms can stretch.

"Welcome back, Luffy", Law 'greeted'. "Did you have a nice nap?"

His captain ignored his friendly greeting and pointed accusingly at him. "Law! Why did you tell Nami to step on my face?!"

Flinching slightly, the doctor frowned at the orange-headed navigator. "What..?"

In response, she just shrugged innocently as to say 'I have no idea what he's talking about'.

While Law got the unnerving feeling that if people blamed him when they had caused physical pain to someone else the someone else would probably believe them due to his sadistic nature, somebody shouted "NOW!" and the three vegetable boys jumped out of their cover of the forest with one 'weapon' each in their hands. They dashed forward to the fallen body of Kuro and began beating him with their weapons.

"I told you not to come!" shrieked Kaya.

"What are you doing here?!" Usopp burst out.

Much to their dismay, the kids began beating at Kuro's head violently with their weapons, completely ignoring them.

"What are those crazy kids thinking?" Zoro frowned.

"Mashing one of East Blue's most famous pirates' face in?" Law suggested.

Once the vegetable trio finally stopped trying to mash Kuro's face in, they turned to face their captain. "You did come after all, Captain! Why didn't you tell us? That's dirty! No, it's dishonest!"

"It doesn't matter!" Usopp tried desperately. "You'd better escape now! Run away!"

"No!" the vegetable trio protested. "We won't run away! We'll fight with you! The Usopp Pirates shouldn't run away!"

Just as they made this brave proclaim, the beaten butler rose to his feet and pushed up his glasses only to have them shatter. This instantly caused the three boys to scream in fear, believing that it was the end for them, but Kuro passed them without as much as a glance. To everyone's surprise, he instead went for Usopp and kicked him in the stomach.

"It hurt a little bit, I admit", Kuro said to Luffy. "You ate a Devil's Fruit just like your captain, didn't you?"

"My captain?" Luffy repeated, tilting his head to the side in confusion. "I'm the captain."

"... Really?" Kuro queried, glancing at Law and Zoro for confirmation. The two nodded matter-of-factly in response while they were mentally wondering if this was going to become frequent. Kuro frowned and took a short moment to comprehend the fact that two very capable swordsmen were following a scrawny-looking brat. "Okay... Jango. I'll kill..." There was a pause and his gaze darted between Law and Luffy, trying to decide who was the best one to kill. After a few seconds of pondering, he came to a decision due to his own beliefs. "... I'll kill that kid. Tell Buchi to kill his subordinates and make sure miss Kaya writes her will. After that, kill her. The three worms too."

Jango placed his hand on the rim of his hat. "Roger."

"Stop right there. I won't allow you to get through here", Zoro warned, blocking the path.

However, due to Zoro not having finished finishing Buchi off just yet, Jango could sic the angry hyponitzed fat cat-man on him and that angry cat-man used the Cat Pounce once again, much to the poor ground's dismay. Roronoa and Trafalgar, once again, needed to jump out of the way to avoid being crushed by the cat-man and/or the big rocks of the shattered ground.

Law, being annoyed with the fact that Zoro still hadn't finished the fatty off yet, decided that his crewmate should take care of it himself and instead went casually for Jango while giving Zoro a, as we would say on the internet, "hardcore judging you" glare. He was stopped dead in his tracks though as Jango was bombarded by Usopp's pachinko balls and eventually fell to the ground. The long-nosed boy made a pretty speech to his three underlings about how they had to protect Kaya and get her to a safe place. Which basically was the same thing as telling them to run away.

But, nonetheless, it was a speech they could not say no to and they followed his orders without question. Admittedly, Law was both a bit impressed and surprised at the cowardly boy's choice of words once again. After all, the amount of seventeen year olds who could handle situations like these were and put other people's safety above their own utterly few. Either way, Law was much more focused on watching Kuro's reaction to all of this.

In Law's eyes, Kuro's flustered face of watching the latest three years of humiliation and his prim plan falling apart in one swoop was absolutely hilarious. Even none-sadists must agree on that, right?

Though, it appeared as though Kuro didn't find it the least bit amusing and lunged for Law with a wild look in his eyes that Law recognized as a milder kind of temporary insanity - the kind when you just really needed to hear the dying gasps and flooding blood of whoever had dared to anger you. "How dare you laugh at me?!"

His attack was interrupted yet again by a stretching arm and a fist embedded into his face. "Your opponent is over here!"

While Kuro was busy recovering from the third hit to his face that day, Law frowned at Luffy. "... Is this revenge for the whole Buggy thing? ... Whatever. Luffy! Can you handle this yourself?"

"Of course! You go do whatever you like(2)", Luffy replied while having his stare-down competition with Kuro who had gotten back on his feet.

Law nodded in return and turned to Usopp and Zoro. "Okay. Then, I'll go get provisions and you two can go and make sure miss Kaya and the three vegetable midgets are safe or something."

Zoro had a brief quiet moment of contemplating whether he should do as the mushroom-head suggested or take his time to argue because it sounded a little bit like an order. The moment was brief though and he complied, after asking a teeny tiny wee bit insulting question to the doctor. "What happened to -ya? Or did you realise how retarded your way of referring to people sounds?"

... Huh. Law's mouth and eye actually twitched and his brows knitted in an angered expression (3). This was very much to Zoro's glee, so he had to add something smug before leaving. "Hoh, truth hurts, doesn't it?"

"You tell me. I've already told you the truth, after all", Law sneered, to which Zoro scowled "what truth?" and Law concluded, as he began his stroll towards town: "That you have an astonishingly low intelligence, of course. What else?"

Normally, Zoro would've been furious at this kind of insult, but since he had managed to get a reaction out of the doctor which he had only succeeded to do once before, he had already experienced one of the happiest moments in his life anyways.

i...i

The things that happened next could easily be summarised in a few sentences. Usopp and Zoro found Kaya and the vegetable midgets safe and sound, Luffy beat Kuro, Nami saw Luffy in a new light, Law got provisions and treated everyone's injuries.

However, things didn't end there, of course.

Luffy and his crew were eating a victory dinner in the restaurant. Nami was telling Luffy that normal people don't try to eat the bones of the fish as he had almost choked on a fish bone and Zoro suggested that they'd leave the island now that they'd eaten. Just as they were about to rise from their seats, the door opened and miss Kaya stepped inside.

"You're here", she said, giving them a very obvious piece of information.

"Yo, ojousama", Luffy greeted, oblivious to the obviousness of her statement.

"Are you fine walking around like this?" Nami inquired.

"I'm fine", Kaya told her. "My illness was caused by the loss of my parents. With Usopp-san, who always cheers me up, I will try harder to recover."

Trafalgar raised both of his eyebrows. "So, the stress of having a man you trusted trying to kill you cures illnesses caused by depression... I'll remember tha- Ow!" He was stopped by a certain red-head's elbow shoving itself into his stomach and he glared at her, offended. "What the hell, navigator-ya?!"

Miss Kaya was a bit appalled at this action, but Nami just waved for her to continue ("Ignore him, he's just a weird creep") and she, a little hesitantly, did so. "Well, putting that aside, you told me you wanted a ship, right?"

All of the four pirates' faces brightened up. "You'll give us a ship?"

A ship they were promised and a ship they got. It was a caravel with a sheep's head with curled horns that resembled its creator, Merry's hair and a cannon sticking out of the front of the ship. It was, as presented by Merry, known as Going Merry and was designed by him. Although it wasn't a submarine, it was nice.

As Luffy was, for whatever reason, telling Kaya she "stepped on us and kicked us" (it's a japanese pun, so of course it doesn't make sense in english), a distant rumbling and a familiar voice screaming came to their ears. The cause of this noise was, drum roll, Usopp coming rolling down the slope with a way too big backpack. Before he crashed into their new ship, the three men of the crew stopped him with one foot each on his face (Law needing to crook his leg a bit more than the other two due to his tallness).

"T-Thanks..." Usopp managed to press out.

"You're welcome", the trio replied and let go of him.

Turned out that Usopp was leaving too to become a pirate and he had a chat with Kaya about it. Once he was done, he turned to the crew who had practically saved his life the other day. "I wish you to remain healthy. Maybe we'll meet again someday."

Luffy raised his head from the railing he was leaning on. "Why?"

"Teh- Why? We are both pirates", Usopp explained, flustered, "so we might meet someday again at sea."

"Just shut up and get on the ship", Zoro snapped, pointing down at the deck.

"We're nakama, right?" Luffy pointed out.

Usopp took a moment to comprehend this statement - or fact, more likely - and then jumped into the air in joy. "I'm the captain!"

"Don't be stupid! I'm the captain!" Luffy shot back hotly.

Law shook his head and chuckled lightly. "Idiots."

**Omake (yes, omakes will be put here now, so don't freak out when bonus chapters disappear. They are placed at the end of previous chapters. It's for the greater good ((cloaked people: The greater good!))):**

_A few days later..._

"Luffy! Roronoa-ya! Clean the men's quarters!" Law ordered, having reluctantly left his seat and his book by the kitchen table.

"Eh?! Why?" both of them protested, Luffy bearing a childish pouty face and Zoro an irritated (yet still childish) expression. "Why us? Why not you and Usopp?"

"Usopp's cleaning the cannon and I've made dinner and dished every single night", Law explained patiently.

Luffy's pout loosened a bit at this, stroking his chin thoughtfully with his right hand. "Well, Law's food is pretty good..."

_Flashback!_

"Finally we have a kitchen and someone who can catch normal fish!" Nami exclaimed in glee. "Now we can eat good food!" In the span of a milisecond, her face suddenly turned devious and evil. "Though, none of you can cook, now can you? Well, you're in luck! For the right price, I'll cook for you!"

Three out of the four male crewmembers winced at the greediness in her smile while the fourth was busy reading a book (and not giving a single shit). That's when Luffy got an idea. "Wait a minute! We can't cook, but there's one who can!"

Nami frowned. "Who?"

Usopp, Zoro and Luffy all turned their gazes to Law, who now noticed the attention drawn to him and looked up from his book. "What?"

So, later that day, Law ended up cooking the fishes that Usopp had caught and serving his four crewmates food. For free. "Here. Eat up and be damn grateful."

Zoro poked his food suspiciously with his fork. "It seemed like a good idea at first, but... Are we sure this isn't poisonous?"

Law scowled and exhaled through his nostrils. "I can assure you that it is healthy. I may not be the kindest doctor, but I am one of the best." When Zoro still looked doubtful, he added, "I can also assure you that it won't taste bad. I made it with hatred and death in mind."

Luffy let out a cheer, startling the others. "Yay! Law's hatred-and-death food is the best!"

This did of course earn him a very confused frown from each and every member of his crew except for his first mate. His first mate just pulled down the rim of his fur-hat over his eyes, performed a very calm oh-my-god-my-captain's-an-idiot facepalm and took a seat.

_End of Flashback!_

As the brief moment of flashbacks was over, Luffy's pout returned and Zoro's expression remained irritated. "But still! What's the point of cleaning the room? It'll just get messy again!"

The fur-hatted man glared at them through half-lidded eyes and drew a sigh and imitated their whiny-ish voices (without any exaggerated movements of course - all he did was raise his shoulders slightly and roll his eyes). "What's the point of treating your wounds? You'll just get injured again!"

Thus, there was an awkward silence between the three until Zoro and Luffy fully realised that they had no good arguement whatsoever against this and grudgingly went to clean the men's quarters.

Nami, who had been watching the whole thing, stared in fascination at Law. "... Seriously, how do you do that?"

"Patience and experience", Law shrugged, glancing back at her. "I must say that I am impressed with how well you handle them yourself for someone who doesn't seem used to this level of idiocy."

"An amount of common sense helps, I guess."

"Ah, I see. Well, I'll give you my appreciation of having you aboard, Nami."

"I'm unsure whether I should be creeped out or flattered by that, really."

"It means that if I ever need an organ to my collection, you're last on the list."

"... Creeped out it is, then."

* * *

**AN: I'M DONE. I really hope you enjoyed, 'cause, as I said, I've been rather angsty about this chapter. If you didn't, tell me in the reviews what I should've done different. Other than that, I must say I had fun writing the omake here, especially. I don't know, I just did. There's not much else I have to say about this, other than that Law-Luffy interactions still seem rare. But it feels like from the POV of the crew in the Syrup Island arc, there was little Luffy if you think about it. But anyways, here are the number explanations!**

**1: Yeah, I always thought that the whole Nami just running past Jango thing was kind of... dumb. Seemingly unarmed or not, it's still an enemy, so why not trip him over while you're at it? Jango of course got up and sent a ring flying into the back his head (this is manga-verse in the later parts, so it's a bit more gruesome than catching in the mouth). Since it's Law's POV he was a bit more caught up in fighting Kuro and everything.**

**2: One of the main reasons Law would follow Luffy. Other than the whole "Thou shalt not deny Luffy's invitation to his crew" rule (since most Straw-Hats refuse at first, and though I know he's asked many others that don't end up joining, it still seem like one of the ten commandments in One Piece), Luffy is not one to make undeniable orders, as we all know. He listens to his crew and lets them do what they want, as far as even accepting that Zoro'd kill him if he got in the way of his goals. Not that he ever would and Zoro would later make one of the most badass scenes ever by contradicting his old self. So this would be a bit of my way of showing why Law would even consider working under someone else.**

**3: This might seem like a rather small thing to get mad for, but I think Law wouldn't take the mocking of his -ya thing lightly because he might see himself that it would sound rather stupid at like Kaya-ya and some other names. Even though his voice actor has an incredibly sexy voice (srsly - Law and Rivaille/Levi from Attack on Titan? My heart. Take it.) and an awesome way of saying this rather weird -ya thing, I think that even if he said it then Kaya-ya would sound... well, a bit stupid. Say it aloud and see what I mean. **

**Well, that's everything. I, the maker of probably the longest ANs ever, will now go peace out! See ya next chapter! *scoots off***


End file.
